ARCHAEA IN BLACK-SEA WATER COLUMN PARTICULATE MATTER AND SEDIMENTS - EVIDENCE FROM ETHER LIPID DERIVATIVES

Phytane and long-chain, C-40, head-to-head acyclic (C-40:0cy) and cycl ic isoprenoids with 1-3 cyclopentyl rings (C-40:1cy, C-40:2cy, and C-4 0:3cy) derived from archaeal core lipids are present in Black Sea part iculate matter from both the oxic and anoxic zones and in sediment cor es from the central basin and the western continental margin. The occu rrence of these ether-linked isoprenoids throughout the water column a nd sediments suggests that Archaea are widely distributed in the Black Sea. Methanogens are the probable source of ether-linked phytane and some of the acyclic C-40 compounds while psychrophilic archaea related to hyperthermophiles are the likely sources of the cyclic isoprenoids . (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.