The structural diversity of the core lipids of extreme halophiles Haloarcula japonica and Halobacterium halobium was investigated. The most significant difference is that Ha. japonica contains sn-2,3-di-O-phytanylglycerol exclusively as the core lipid, whereas Hb. halobium contains both sn-2,3-di-O-phytanylglycerol and sn-2-O-sesterterpanyl (3,7,11,15,19-pentamethyleicosanyl)-3-O-phytanylglycerol.
