Abstract
Cellular membranes define the physical boundary of life and provide scaffolds for various fundamental metabolic activities, including ATP synthesis, respiration, phototrophy, endocytosis and ion transport. Terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are known to play important roles in membrane organization and regulation across the three domains of life through unique interactions with other membrane lipids and membrane proteins. Terpenoids are present in not only the membranes of the three domains, but also viral membranes and extracellular vesicles. The large structural diversity of terpenoids and their ubiquitous distribution in modern organisms make terpenoids distinct from other membrane lipids, such as fatty acyls that are nearly absent in archaea. Addressing the biochemical and biophysical properties that allow terpenoids to play critical roles in membrane organization is important to understand the driving forces that shaped cellular life as we know it. This review summarizes the major classes of terpenoids that are involved in membrane organization and discuss the impact of terpenoid-membrane interactions on the evolutionary trajectory of membrane dynamics and the fitness of host organisms.
1 Introduction
Cellular membrane was among critical factors for the emergence of life. Compartmentalization of small molecules in a cellular structure would have been a prerequisite for the onset of pre-biotic chemistry and subsequent biochemistry during the formative period of life (). In modern biology, cellular membranes are mixtures of a variety of lipid molecules that have a distinct evolutionary origin and history. Among those lipids, terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are known for their large structural and functional diversity (; ; Xu et al., 2004). Terpenoids are present in the cellular membrane of all three domains of life – Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya – but are utilized distinctly from one another. Archaea use terpenoids as structural components of their membranes (), while bacteria and eukaryotes use terpenoids as membrane regulators (Sezgin et al., 2017; ). The establishment of the archaeal and eukaryotic domains is in fact built upon the presence of certain terpenoids. Hence, the structural and functional divergence of terpenoids was an important driving force for some major evolutionary events of life. This review focuses on the role of terpenoids in the diversification of membrane organization and associated dynamics in cellular life, thereby providing an integrated perspective for the co-evolutionary relationship between terpenoids and biological membranes.
2 Terpenoids in biological membranes
Biological membranes encompass not only cellular membranes, but also ‘non-cellular’ membranes, including endomembranes (intracellular membranes), extracellular vesicles and viral envelopes. These non-cellular membranes are derived from host cells, but not necessarily directly from cellular membranes. Hence, the actual composition may be divergent, depending on individual membranes. In principle, there are only two cellular membrane systems in biology: archaeal-type and bacterial-type membranes () (Figure 1). The archaeal membrane lipids have sn-glycerol-1-phosphate (G1P) as the lipid backbone that is linked to linear terpenoid chains via ether bonds, while the bacterial lipids have sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) that is linked to fatty acyl chains via ester bonds. This structural difference is known as the ‘lipid divide’ and represents one of fundamental differences between Archaea and Bacteria, despite that both domains evolved from LUCA (; ). Eukarya has a bacterial-type membrane, even though the domain is inferred to have evolved from within Archaea (). Some bacteria are known to possess genes to biosynthesize archaeal-type membrane lipids, but the in vivo production of those archaeal-type lipids is yet to be confirmed (Villanueva et al., 2021).
Figure 1
Terpenoids are present in all types of biological membranes and also in all forms of cellular life on Earth (Figure 1). The involvement of terpenoids in membrane organization seems to have a deep root and the possible presence of terpenoids in the hypothetical membrane of the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) has been debated (
Figure 2

Biosynthesis flow and taxonomic distribution of terpenoids that are present in biological membranes. Carbon numbers at the upper left or right corner of grey boxes indicate the typical molecular sizes of produced terpenoids or terpenoid moieties of larger molecules (exceptions exist). Excluding downstream modifications, terpenoids always have a carbon number of multiples of five, due to the isoprene units. Arrows do not necessarily indicate a single enzymatic step. Terpenoids in the dashed boxes are intermediates, while those in the solid grey boxes are final products (only examples are shown). *1: polyprenoids include any functionalized forms, but the abundance of polyprenoids as final products is not well understood. The dephosphorylation step is similarly not well understood. *2: In vitro production of archaeal lipids by bacterial enzymes is not included in the figure (Villanueva et al., 2021). Also, the carbon numbers at the upper right corner correspond to the terpenoid single chains. DMAPP, dimethylallyl diphosphate; IPP, isopentenyl diphosphate; PP, diphosphate.
Terpenoids are directly or indirectly involved in membrane organization. The ability of terpenoids to modulate membrane properties is based on their hydrophobic structure. C<25 linear terpenoids either constitute membrane lipids (e.g. archaeol) (
2.1 Terpenoids in cellular membranes
Bacterial and eukaryotic membranes contain terpenoids mainly as regulatory components. While hopanoids and steroids are the two major membrane terpenoids, several specific lineages, including anaerobic protists and ciliates, alternatively produce a unique structural homolog called tetrahymanol (Takishita et al., 2012;
Steroids in eukaryotes are the most extensively studied terpenoids for their roles in membrane organization. Eukaryotic-specific membrane dynamics is based on the triad of distinct lipid components – fatty acyl phospholipids, sphingolipids and steroids (van Meer et al., 2008; Sezgin et al., 2017). The planar polycyclic structure of steroids, particularly cholesterol, has an ability to decrease the fluidity and the permeability of host membranes and laterally compress membranes, forming a liquid-ordered microdomains (
Bacterial membranes have also been suggested to have a eukaryotic-like heterogeneous membranes (functional membrane microdomains; FMMs) (
Other terpenoids may also engage in membrane organization and protein-lipid interactions locally and/or temporarily. Quinones, polyprenoids and C<25 small terpenoids can alter the membrane fluidity and/or permeability, although their physiological significance is not fully understood (
2.2 Terpenoids in endomembranes
Endomembrane systems are observed in all three domains of life and often have divergent lipid compositions from outer cellular membranes. In archaea, the hyperthermophilic anaerobe Ignicoccus hospitalis contains two cytoplasmic regions enclosed by outer and inner membranes. These two membranes have different terpenoid profiles and are utilized for different metabolic activities (
However, terpenoids are not necessarily present in those endomembranes, even if terpenoids are present in cellular membranes. This heterogeneity presumably reflects the physiological requirements of individual endomembranes and/or their evolutionary origins. For instance, hopanoids are found in thylakoids in cyanobacteria, but are mostly absent in other bacterial endomembranes (Rattray et al., 2008; Schüler, 2008). Also, steroids are only minor components in mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in animals and fungi (van Meer et al., 2008). Mitochondria also lack sphingolipids and this might reflect the membrane composition of ancestral symbiotic alphaproteobacteria. Steroids are similarly absent in eukaryotic thylakoids, possibly reflecting their cyanobacterial origin (
Photosynthetic endomembranes (thylakoids and chromatophores) contain carotenoids either as part of the photosynthetic machinery, or as non-bound components. Carotenoids span both leaflets of a bilayer and have an ability to vertically compress membranes (
2.3 Terpenoids in viral membranes
The presence of lipid membranes is not limited to cellular organisms. Many viruses have lipid membranes either as outer envelopes or as capsid-enclosed inner membranes. Membrane-containing viruses are unevenly distributed among eukaryotic, bacterial and archaeal viruses and viral membranes likely do not share a common ancestry (Poranen et al., 2015;
2.4 Terpenoids in extracellular vesicles
Various forms of membrane-bound extracellular vesicles (EVs) are secreted by cellular organisms, utilizing host membrane lipids (
2.5 Terpenoids in prokaryotic resting cells
Resting cells differentiate from vegetative cells to preserve genetic materials and other important metabolites under adverse environmental conditions. Resting cells are observed in multiple lineages of bacteria, including endospores in the phylum Bacillota, exospores in actinobacteria and akinetes in cyanobacteria. Endospores in Bacillota are coated with lipid membranes that contain a unique terpenoid called baciterpenol A that is a structural homolog of hopanoids and steroids (Sato, 2013; Willdigg and Helmann, 2021) (Figure 2). In fact, baciterpenol A is produced by class II TC in aerobic members of the phylum. Baciterpenol A increases the rigidity of the host membrane and thus the resistance against oxidative stress (
3 Terpenoids as key players in membrane evolution
The diverse chemical structures of terpenoids enable them to involve in membrane organization in various different ways. In fact, the structural diversification of terpenoids is linked to the evolutionary trajectory of biological membranes. A prime example is the evolutionary history of class II TC that produces hopanoids and steroids (
The modern diversity of class II TC products reflect their adaptation towards the oxygenated Earth. While hopanoids are formed by direct cyclization of squalene, steroids are formed by cyclization of ‘oxygenated’ squalene (oxidosqualene). Accordingly, steroid biosynthesis is performed only by aerobic organisms. Hence, the membrane dynamics of steroid-producing organisms – most notably eukaryotes – owes its emergence to the aerobic adaptation of terpenoids, which possibly occurred shortly after the Great Oxidation Event 2.4 billion years ago (
In contrast, the effects of terpenoids on archaeal-type membranes is largely unknown. In fact, regulatory terpenoids, such as hopanoids, steroids, carotenoids and squalene, are nearly absent in archaea, even though the archaeal membrane itself is made up of terpenoids (Figure 1). Quinones and polyprenoids that are universally distributed in all three domains may function as membrane regulators (Salvador-Castell et al., 2019), but the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive the membrane dynamics in archaea are generally not well understood. Hence, systematic and comprehensive studies about the impact of individual terpenoids on different membrane systems would be critical to elucidate the origin and the evolutionary history of life through the perspective of membrane evolution (
Statements
Author contributions
YH: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Funding
The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by DFG Priority programme 2237 and the Helmholtz Society.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
1
BagatolliL.GrattonE.KhanT. K.ChongP. L.-G. (2000). Two-photon fluorescence microscopy studies of bipolar tetraether giant liposomes from thermoacidophilic archaebacteria sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Biophys. J.79, 416–425. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(00)76303-X
2
BantaA. B.WeiJ. H.WelanderP. V. (2015). A distinct pathway for tetrahymanol synthesis in bacteria. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.112, 13478–13483. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1511482112
3
BaqueroD. P.GaziA. D.SachseM.LiuJ.SchmittC.Moya-NilgesM.et al. (2021). A filamentous archaeal virus is enveloped inside the cell and released through pyramidal portals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.118, e2105540118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2105540118
4
Barber-ZuckerS.ZarivachR. (2017). A look into the biochemistry of magnetosome biosynthesis in magnetotactic bacteria. ACS Chem. Biol.12, 13–22. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.6b01000
5
BeckJ. G.MathieuD.LoudetC.BuchouxS.DufourcE. J. (2007). Plant sterols in “rafts”: a better way to regulate membrane thermal shocks. FASEB J.21, 1714–1723. doi: 10.1096/fj.06-7809com
6
BelinB. J.BussetN.GiraudE.MolinaroA.SilipoA.NewmanD. K. (2018). Hopanoid lipids: from membranes to plant–bacteria interactions. Nat. Rev. Microbiol.16, 304–315. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro.2017.173
7
BerryA.HarriottO.MoreauR.OsmanS.BensonD.JonesA. (1993). Hopanoid lipids compose the Frankia vesicle envelope, presumptive barrier of oxygen diffusion to nitrogenase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. United States America90, 6091–6094. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.13.6091
8
BlochK. (1991). “Chapter 12 Cholesterol: evolution of structure and function,” in New Comprehensive Biochemistry. Eds. VanceD. E.VanceJ. E. (ElsevierAmsterdam), 363–381.
9
BosakT.LosickR. M.PearsonA. (2008). A polycyclic terpenoid that alleviates oxidative stress. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.105, 6725–6729. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0800199105
10
BramkampM.LopezD. (2015). Exploring the existence of lipid rafts in bacteria. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.79, 81. doi: 10.1128/MMBR.00036-14
11
BrocksJ. J.NettersheimB. J.AdamP.SchaefferP.JarrettA. J. M.GüneliN.et al. (2023). Lost world of complex life and the late rise of the eukaryotic crown. Nature618, 767–773. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06170-w
12
BykowskiM.MazurR.WójtowiczJ.SuskiS.GarstkaM.MostowskaA.et al. (2021). Too rigid to fold: Carotenoid-dependent decrease in thylakoid fluidity hampers the formation of chloroplast grana. Plant Physiol.185, 210–227. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiaa009
13
CamargosH. S.MoreiraR. A.MendanhaS. A.FernandesK. S.DortaM. L.AlonsoA. (2014). Terpenes increase the lipid dynamics in the leishmania plasma membrane at concentrations similar to their IC50 values. PloS One9, e104429. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104429
14
ChengX.SmithJ. C. (2019). Biological membrane organization and cellular signaling. Chem. Rev.119, 5849–5880. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00439
15
ChristiansonD. W. (2017). Structural and chemical biology of terpenoid cyclases. Chem. Rev.117, 11570–11648. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00287
16
ColemanG. A.PancostR. D.WilliamsT. A. (2019). Investigating the origins of membrane phospholipid biosynthesis genes using outgroup-free rooting. Genome Biol. Evol.11, 883–898. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evz034
17
DeamerD.DworkinJ. P.SandfordS. A.BernsteinM. P.AllamandolaL. J. (2002). The first cell membranes. Astrobiology2, 371–381. doi: 10.1089/153110702762470482
18
DeatherageB. L.CooksonB. T. (2012). Membrane vesicle release in bacteria, eukaryotes, and archaea: a conserved yet underappreciated aspect of microbial life. Infect. Immun.80, 1948–1957. doi: 10.1128/IAI.06014-11
19
DibrovaD. V.GalperinM. Y.MulkidjanianA. Y. (2014). Phylogenomic reconstruction of archaeal fatty acid metabolism. Environ. Microbiol.16, 907–918. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12359
20
DoughtyD. M.HunterR. C.SummonsR. E.NewmanD. K. (2009). 2-Methylhopanoids are maximally produced in akinetes of Nostoc punctiforme: geobiological implications. Geobiology7, 524–532. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2009.00217.x
21
EmeL.SpangA.LombardJ.StairsC. W.EttemaT. J. G. (2017). Archaea and the origin of eukaryotes. Nat. Rev. Microbiol.15, 711–723. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro.2017.133
22
ErdmannS.TschitschkoB.ZhongL.RafteryM. J.CavicchioliR. (2017). A plasmid from an Antarctic haloarchaeon uses specialized membrane vesicles to disseminate and infect plasmid-free cells. Nat. Microbiol.2, 1446–1455. doi: 10.1038/s41564-017-0009-2
23
FengX.HuY.ZhengY.ZhuW.LiK.HuangC.-H.et al. (2014). Structural and functional analysis of bacillus subtilis yisP reveals a role of its product in biofilm production. Chem. Biol.21, 1557–1563. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2014.08.018
24
FlechslerJ.HeimerlT.HuberH.RachelR.BergI. A. (2021). Functional compartmentalization and metabolic separation in a prokaryotic cell. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.118, e2022114118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2022114118
25
FranzaT.GauduP. (2022). Quinones: more than electron shuttles. Res. Microbiol., 173103953. doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2022.103953
26
García-FernándezE.KochG.WagnerR. M.FeketeA.StengelS. T.SchneiderJ.et al. (2017). Membrane microdomain disassembly inhibits MRSA antibiotic resistance. Cell171, 1354–1367.e1320. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.10.012
27
GillS.CatchpoleR.ForterreP. (2019). Extracellular membrane vesicles in the three domains of life and beyond. FEMS Microbiol. Rev.43, 273–303. doi: 10.1093/femsre/fuy042
28
GoldD. A.CaronA.FournierG. P.SummonsR. E. (2017). Paleoproterozoic sterol biosynthesis and the rise of oxygen. Nature543, 420. doi: 10.1038/nature21412
29
GophnaU.Altman-PriceN. (2022). Horizontal gene transfer in archaea—From mechanisms to genome evolution. Annu. Rev. Microbiol.76, 481–502. doi: 10.1146/annurev-micro-040820-124627
30
HammondA. T.HeberleF. A.BaumgartT.HolowkaD.BairdB.FeigensonG. W. (2005). Crosslinking a lipid raft component triggers liquid ordered-liquid disordered phase separation in model plasma membranes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. United States America102, 6320. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0405654102
31
HartleyM. D.ImperialiB. (2012). At the membrane frontier: A prospectus on the remarkable evolutionary conservation of polyprenols and polyprenyl-phosphates. Arch. Biochem. Biophys.517, 83–97. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2011.10.018
32
HartmannM.-A. (1998). Plant sterols and the membrane environment. Trends Plant Sci.3, 170–175. doi: 10.1016/S1360-1385(98)01233-3
33
HashimotoH.UragamiC.CogdellR. J. (2016). “Carotenoids and Photosynthesis,” in Carotenoids in Nature: Biosynthesis, Regulation and Function. Ed. StangeC. (Cham: Springer International Publishing), 111–139.
34
HaußT.DanteS.DencherN. A.HainesT. H. (2002). Squalane is in the midplane of the lipid bilayer: implications for its function as a proton permeability barrier. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics1556, 149–154. doi: 10.1016/S0005-2728(02)00346-8
35
HederstedtL. (2012). Heme A biosynthesis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics1817, 920–927. doi: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.03.025
36
HölzlG.DörmannP. (2019). Chloroplast lipids and their biosynthesis. Annu. Rev. Plant Biol.70, 51–81. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-050718-100202
37
HoshinoY.GaucherE. A. (2021). Evolution of bacterial steroid biosynthesis and its impact on eukaryogenesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.118, e2101276118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2101276118
38
HoshinoY.VillanuevaL. (2023). Four billion years of microbial terpenome evolution. FEMS Microbiol. Rev.47, fuad008. doi: 10.1093/femsre/fuad008
39
JainS.CaforioA.DriessenA. J. M. (2014). Biosynthesis of archaeal membrane ether lipids. Front. Microbiol.5, 641. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00641
40
JiangH.ZhangX.ChenX.AramsangtienchaiP.TongZ.LinH. (2018). Protein lipidation: occurrence, mechanisms, biological functions, and enabling technologies. Chem. Rev.118, 919–988. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00750
41
JonesM. B.RosenbergJ. N.BetenbaughM. J.KragS. S. (2009). Structure and synthesis of polyisoprenoids used in N-glycosylation across the three domains of life. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) - Gen. Subj.1790, 485–494. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2009.03.030
42
JürgensU. J.SimoninP.RohmerM. (1992). Localization and distribution of hopanoids in membrane systems of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6714. FEMS Microbiol. Lett.92, 285–288. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1992.tb05275.x
43
KingJ. P.WangA. (2023). Putative roles of terpenoids in primitive membranes. Front. Ecol. Evol.11. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1272163
44
KlinglA. (2014). S-layer and cytoplasmic membrane – exceptions from the typical archaeal cell wall with a focus on double membranes. Front. Microbiol.5. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00624
45
KogaY. (2011). Early evolution of membrane lipids: how did the lipid divide occur? J. Mol. Evol.72, 274–282. doi: 10.1007/s00239-011-9428-5
46
LeventalI.LingwoodD.GrzybekM.CoskunÜ.SimonsK. (2010). Palmitoylation regulates raft affinity for the majority of integral raft proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.107, 22050. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1016184107
47
LiuJ.SolerN.GorlasA.Cvirkaite-KrupovicV.KrupovicM.ForterreP. (2021). Extracellular membrane vesicles and nanotubes in Archaea. microLife2, uqab007. doi: 10.1093/femsml/uqab007
48
LopezD.KochG. (2017). Exploring functional membrane microdomains in bacteria: an overview. Curr. Opin. Microbiol.36, 76–84. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.02.001
49
LoRiccoJ. G.HoffmannI.CaliòA.PetersJ. (2023). The membrane regulator squalane increases membrane rigidity under high hydrostatic pressure in archaeal membrane mimics. Soft Matter19, 6280–6286. doi: 10.1039/D3SM00352C
50
MäntynenS.SundbergL.-R.OksanenH. M.PoranenM. M. (2019). Half a century of research on membrane-containing bacteriophages: bringing new concepts to modern virology. Viruses11, 76. doi: 10.3390/v11010076
51
MishraS. K.BaeY. S.LeeY.-M.KimJ.-S.OhS. H.KimH. M. (2021). Sesquiterpene alcohol cedrol chemosensitizes human cancer cells and suppresses cell proliferation by destabilizing plasma membrane lipid rafts. Front. Cell Dev. Biol.8. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.571676
52
MullineauxC. W.LiuL.-N. (2020). Membrane dynamics in phototrophic bacteria. Annu. Rev. Microbiol.74, 633–654. doi: 10.1146/annurev-micro-020518-120134
53
NagyP. D. (2022). Co-opted membranes, lipids, and host proteins: what have we learned from tombusviruses? Curr. Opin. Virol.56, 101258. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2022.101258
54
Nolte-’t HoenE.CremerT.GalloR. C.MargolisL. B. (2016). Extracellular vesicles and viruses: Are they close relatives? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.113, 9155–9161. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1605146113
55
OmastaB.TomaskovaJ. (2022). Cellular lipids - hijacked victims of viruses. Viruses14, 1896. doi: 10.3390/v14091896
56
OrfG. S.BlankenshipR. E. (2013). Chlorosome antenna complexes from green photosynthetic bacteria. Photosyn. Res.116, 315–331. doi: 10.1007/s11120-013-9869-3
57
PhamQ. D.TopgaardD.SparrE. (2015). Cyclic and linear monoterpenes in phospholipid membranes: phase behavior, bilayer structure, and molecular dynamics. Langmuir31, 11067–11077. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b00856
58
PoranenM. M.BamfordD. H.OksanenH. M. (2015). Membrane-containing bacteriophages. eLS, 1–11. doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000779.pub3
59
ProctorM. S.SutherlandG. A.CanniffeD. P.HitchcockA. (2022). The terminal enzymes of (bacterio)chlorophyll biosynthesis. R. Soc. Open Sci.9, 211903. doi: 10.1098/rsos.211903
60
RattrayJ. E.van de VossenbergJ.HopmansE. C.KartalB.van NiftrikL.RijpstraW. I. C.et al. (2008). Ladderane lipid distribution in four genera of anammox bacteria. Arch. Microbiol.190, 51–66. doi: 10.1007/s00203-008-0364-8
61
SáenzJ. P.GrosserD.BradleyA. S.LagnyT. J.LavrynenkoO.BrodaM.et al. (2015). Hopanoids as functional analogues of cholesterol in bacterial membranes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. United States America112, 11971–11976. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1515607112
62
SáenzJ.SezginE.SchwilleP.SimonsK. (2012). Functional convergence of hopanoids and sterols in membrane ordering. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. United States America109, 14236–14240. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1212141109
63
Salvador-CastellM.BrooksN. J.PetersJ.OgerP. (2020). Induction of non-lamellar phases in archaeal lipids at high temperature and high hydrostatic pressure by apolar polyisoprenoids. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes1862, 183130. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2019.183130
64
Salvador-CastellM.TourteM.OgerP. M. (2019). In search for the membrane regulators of archaea. Int. J. Mol. Sci20, 4434. doi: 10.3390/ijms20184434
65
Santana-MolinaC.Rivas-MarinE.RojasA. M.DevosD. P. (2020). Origin and evolution of polycyclic triterpene synthesis. Mol. Biol. Evol.37, 1925–1941. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa054
66
SatoT. (2013). Unique biosynthesis of sesquarterpenes (C35 terpenes). Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem.77, 1155–1159. doi: 10.1271/bbb.130180
67
SchülerD. (2008). Genetics and cell biology of magnetosome formation in magnetotactic bacteria. FEMS Microbiol. Rev.32, 654–672. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00116.x
68
SévinD. C.SauerU. (2014). Ubiquinone accumulation improves osmotic-stress tolerance in Escherichia coli. Nat. Chem. Biol.10, 266–272. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1437
69
SezginE.LeventalI.MayorS.EggelingC. (2017). The mystery of membrane organization: composition, regulation and roles of lipid rafts. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.18, 361. doi: 10.1038/nrm.2017.16
70
ShawT. R.GhoshS.VeatchS. L. (2020). Critical phenomena in plasma membrane organization and function. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem72, 51–72. doi: 10.1146/annurev-physchem-090419-115951
71
SiL.MengK.TianZ.SunJ.LiH.ZhangZ.et al. (2018). Triterpenoids manipulate a broad range of virus-host fusion via wrapping the HR2 domain prevalent in viral envelopes. Sci. Adv.4, eaau8408. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aau8408
72
SimoninP.JürgensU.RohmerM. (1996). Bacterial triterpenoids of the hopane series from the prochlorophyte Prochlorothrix hollandica and their intracellular localization. Eur. J. biochemistry/FEBS241, 865–871. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1996.00865.x
73
SinenskyM. (2000). Functional aspects of polyisoprenoid protein substituents: roles in protein–protein interaction and trafficking. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) - Mol. Cell Biol. Lipids1529, 203–209. doi: 10.1016/S1388-1981(00)00149-9
74
SkotlandT.SaginiK.SandvigK.LlorenteA. (2020). An emerging focus on lipids in extracellular vesicles. Adv. Drug Delivery Rev.159, 308–321. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2020.03.002
75
StankeviciuteG.TangP.AshleyB.ChamberlainJ. D.HansenM. E. B.ColemanA.et al. (2022). Convergent evolution of bacterial ceramide synthesis. Nat. Chem. Biol.18, 305–312. doi: 10.1038/s41589-021-00948-7
76
TakishitaK.ChikaraishiY.LegerM. M.KimE.YabukiA.OhkouchiN.et al. (2012). Lateral transfer of tetrahymanol-synthesizing genes has allowed multiple diverse eukaryote lineages to independently adapt to environments without oxygen. Biol. Direct7, 5. doi: 10.1186/1745-6150-7-5
77
TangS.-K.ZhiX.-Y.ZhangY.MakarovaK. S.LiuB.-B.ZhengG.-S.et al. (2023). Cellular differentiation into hyphae and spores in halophilic archaea. Nat. Commun.14, 1827. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37389-w
78
TóthT. N.ChukhutsinaV.DomonkosI.KnoppováJ.KomendaJ.KisM.et al. (2015). Carotenoids are essential for the assembly of cyanobacterial photosynthetic complexes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics1847, 1153–1165. doi: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2015.05.020
79
TourteM.SchaefferP.GrossiV.OgerP. M. (2020). Functionalized membrane domains: an ancestral feature of archaea? Front. Microbiol.11. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00526
80
van MeerG.VoelkerD.FeigensonG. (2008). Membrane lipids: where they are and how they behave. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.9, 112–124. doi: 10.1038/nrm2330
81
van NiftrikL. A.FuerstJ. A.DamstéJ. S. S.KuenenJ. G.JettenM. S. M.StrousM. (2004). The anammoxosome: an intracytoplasmic compartment in anammox bacteria. FEMS Microbiol. Lett.233, 7–13. doi: 10.1016/j.femsle.2004.01.044
82
van WolferenM.PulschenA. A.BaumB.GribaldoS.AlbersS.-V. (2022). The cell biology of archaea. Nat. Microbiol.7, 1744–1755. doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01215-8
83
VillanuevaL.von MeijenfeldtF. A. B.WestbyeA. B.YadavS.HopmansE. C.DutilhB. E.et al. (2021). Bridging the membrane lipid divide: bacteria of the FCB group superphylum have the potential to synthesize archaeal ether lipids. Isme J.15, 168–182. doi: 10.1038/s41396-020-00772-2
84
WaheedA. A.FreedE. O. (2010). The role of lipids in retrovirus replication. Viruses2, 1146–1180. doi: 10.3390/v2051146
85
WilldiggJ. R.HelmannJ. D. (2021). Mini review: bacterial membrane composition and its modulation in response to stress. Front. Mol. Biosci.8. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.634438
86
XuR.FazioG.MatsudaS. (2004). On the origins of triterpenoid skeletal diversity. Phytochemistry65, 261–291. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2003.11.014
Summary
Keywords
membrane evolution, membrane dynamics, terpenoids, Archaea, LUCA (the last universal common ancestor), membrane organization
Citation
Hoshino Y (2024) Terpenoids and membrane dynamics evolution. Front. Ecol. Evol. 12:1345733. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1345733
Received
28 November 2023
Accepted
18 January 2024
Published
01 February 2024
Volume
12 - 2024
Edited by
Michael Schubert, UMR7009 Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche sur Mer, France
Reviewed by
Diana X. Sahonero-Canavesi, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Netherlands
Laura R Jarboe, Iowa State University, United States
Updates

Check for updates
Copyright
© 2024 Hoshino.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Yosuke Hoshino, yhoshino@gfz-potsdam.de; yhoshino06@gmail.com
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.