Phospholipid-derived fatty acids (PLFA) are widely used in microbial ecology

Microbial ecology

Microbial ecology is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life — Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria — as well as viruses....

 as chemotaxonomic markers of bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

 and other organisms.

Phospholipids are the primary lipids composing cellular membranes. They can be esterified to many types of fatty acids. Once the phospholipids of an unknown sample are esterfied the composition of the resulting PLFA can be compared to the PLFA of known organisms to determine the identity of the sample organism.

PLFA analysis may be combined with stable isotope probing to determine which microbes are metabolically active in a sample.

Sources

• L Zelles, QY Bai, R Rackwitz, D Chadwick, F Beese (1995). "Determination of phospholipid- and lipopolysaccharide-derived fatty acids as an estimate of microbial biomass and community structures in soils". Biology and Fertility of Soils. Volume 19, Numbers 2-3: 115-123.
• N Dijkman, J Kromkamp (2006). "Phospholipid-derived fatty acids as chemotaxonomic markers for phytoplankton: application for inferring phytoplankton composition". Marine Ecology Progress Series. Vol. 324: 113–125.
• J Neufeld, M Dumont, J Vohra, J Murrell (2007). "Methodological Considerations for the Use of Stable Isotope Probing in Microbial Ecology". Microbial Ecology. Volume 53, Number 3: 435-442.