Signature lipid biomarkers

Signature lipid biomarkers (SLB), or fatty acid profiling, is another molecular approach that has become widely used to study microbial communities (White and Ringelberg 1998) because, like nucleic acid methods, it is not dependent on the growth or morphology of organisms but relies on the direct... 

White, D. C. and Ringelberg, D. B. (1998). Signature lipid biomarker analysis, in Techniques in Microbial Ecology (R. S. Burlage, R. M. Atlas, D. A. Stahl, G. Geesey, and G. S. Sayler, Eds.). Oxford Oxford University Press, 255-272. 

Phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) is based on the determination of signature lipid biomarkers from the cell membranes and walls of microorganisms. Phospholipids are an essential part of intact cell membranes, and information from the lipid analysis provides quantitative insight into three important attributes of microbial communities viable biomass, community structure, and nutritional status. Phospholipid fatty acid prohles have been used to show the response of the microbial community to phosphorus availability (Keinanen et ah, 2002). Signature lipid biomarker analysis may not detect every species of microorganism in an environmental sample accurately, because many species have similar PLFA patterns. 

Jahnke L. L., Summons R. E., Hope J. M., and Des Marais D. J. (1999) Carbon isotopic fractionation in lipids from metha-notrophic bacteria II. The effects of physiology and environmental parameters on the biosynthesis and isotopic signatures of biomarkers. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63, 79-93. 

Corr, L.T., Richards, M.P, Jim, S.,Ambrose, S.H., Mackie, A., Beattie, O., Evershed, R.P. (2008) Probing dietary change of the Kwad y DanTs inchj individual, an ancient glacier body from British Columbia I. Complementary use of marine lipid biomarker and carbon isotope signatures as novel indicators of a marine diet. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35,2102-2110. 

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