Prokaryotes bridging the lipid divide.

Diverse bacteria with mixed membrane-lipid features have been identified, and combined liposome assays and synthetic-biology experiments suggest the lipid divide between Archaea and Bacteria/Eukarya can be bridged.

• Why it matters: The lipid divide is thought to make cross-type membrane compatibility impossible, but earlier conclusions were based on limited biodiversity sampling and accumulating exceptions.
• What they did: The authors review known exceptions and add a broad survey, then use liposome assays and synthetic-biology experiments to test membrane-lipid behavior in these mixed-feature bacteria.
• The result: Evidence from these organism studies implies bridging is feasible, informing evolutionary scenarios for LUCA, the origin of prokaryotic domains, and eukaryogenesis.

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