2023/08/08 by Luca Panconi, Christian D. Lorenz, Robin C. May +2 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Protein Structure and Dynamics #Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105134
openalex publication_date 2023/08/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Membrane biophysical properties are critical to cell fitness and depend on unsaturated phospholipid acyl tails. These can only be produced in aerobic environments since eukaryotic desaturases require molecular oxygen. This raises the question of how cells maintain bilayer properties in anoxic environments. Using advanced microscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and lipidomics by mass spectrometry we demonstrated the existence of an alternative pathway to regulate membrane fluidity that exploits phospholipid acyl tail length asymmetry, replacing unsaturated species in the membrane lipidome. We show that the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, which can grow in aerobic and anaerobic conditions, is capable of utilizing this strategy, whereas its sister species, the well-known model organism Schizosaccharomyces pombe, cannot. The incorporation of asymmetric-tailed phospholipids might be a general adaptation to hypoxic environmental niches.