Authors: Jacob R. Winnikoff, Daniel Milshteyn, Sasiri J. Vargas-Urbano, Miguel A. Pedraza-Joya, Aaron M. Armando, Oswald Quehenberger, Alexander Sodt, Richard E. Gillilan, Edward A. Dennis, Edward Lyman, Steven H. D. Haddock, and Itay Budin.
Journal: Science
Hydrostatic pressure increases with depth in the ocean, but little is known about the molecular bases of biological pressure tolerance. We describe a mode of pressure adaptation in comb jellies (ctenophores) that also constrains these animals’ depth range. Structural analysis of deep-sea ctenophore lipids shows that they form a nonbilayer phase at pressures under which the phase is not typically stable. Lipidomics and all-atom simulations identified phospholipids with strong negative spontaneous curvature, including plasmalogens, as a hallmark of deep-adapted membranes that causes this phase behavior. Synthesis of plasmalogens enhanced pressure tolerance in Escherichia coli, whereas low-curvature lipids had the opposite effect. Imaging of ctenophore tissues indicated that the disintegration of deep-sea animals when decompressed could be driven by a phase transition in their phospholipid membranes.
