sn-Glycerol-l-Phosphate Dehydrogenase in Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum: Key Enzyme in Biosynthesis of the Enantiomeric Glycerophosphate Backbone of Ether Phospholipids of Archaebacteria

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One of the most characteristic features of archaebacterial ether phospholipids is the enantiomeric configuration of their glycerophosphate backbone (sn-glycerol-1-phosphate), that is the mirror image of the structure of the eubacterial or eukaryotic counterpart. The enzyme that forms glycerophosphate of this configuration was found for the first time in a cell-free extract of the methanogen, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, and was identified as sn-glycerol-1-phosphate: NAD⁺ oxidoreductase (sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase) after partial purification. Because sn-glycerol-1-phosphate has been found to be a precursor of ether lipids of this organism, sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of the enantiomeric ether lipids of methanogens.