Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Jun 11;10(7):507-15.
doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2815.

The early evolution of lipid membranes and the three domains of life

Jonathan Lombard  1 , Purificación López-García, David Moreira
Affiliations
Review

The early evolution of lipid membranes and the three domains of life

Jonathan Lombard et al. Nat Rev Microbiol. .

Abstract

All cell membranes are composed of glycerol phosphate phospholipids, and this commonality argues for the presence of such phospholipids in the last common ancestor, or cenancestor. However, phospholipid biosynthesis is very different between bacteria and archaea, leading to the suggestion that the cenancestor was devoid of phospholipid membranes. Recent phylogenomic studies challenge this view, suggesting that the cenancestor did possess complex phospholipid membranes. Here, we discuss the implications of these recent findings for membrane evolution in archaea and bacteria, and for the origin of the eukaryotic cell.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. J Mol Evol. 1978 Aug 2;11(3):245-51 - PubMed
    1. J Mol Evol. 1982;18(3):203-6 - PubMed
    1. Science. 2000 May 26;288(5470):1390-6 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jun;87(12):4576-9 - PubMed
    1. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2005 Dec;3(12):959-68 - PubMed

Publication types