As a hallmark of Archaea, their cell membranes are comprised of ether lipids.
However, Archaea‐type ether lipids have recently been identified in Bacteria as well,
with a somewhat different composition: In Bacillales, sn‐glycerol 1‐phosphate is
etherified with one C35 isoprenoid chain, which is longer than the typical C20 chain
in Archaea, and instead of a second isoprenoid chain, the product heptaprenylglyceryl
phosphate becomes dephosphorylated and afterward diacetylated by the
O‐acetyltransferase YvoF. Interestingly, database searches have revealed YvoF
homologs in Halobacteria (Archaea), too. Here, we demonstrate that YvoF from
Haloferax volcanii can acetylate geranylgeranylglycerol in vitro. Additionally, we
present the first‐time identification of acetylated diether lipids in H. volcanii and
Halobacterium salinarum by mass spectrometry. A variety of different acetylated
lipids, namely acetylated archaeol, and acetylated archaetidylglycerol, were found,
suggesting that halobacterial YvoF has a broad substrate range. We suppose that the
acetyl group might serve to modify the polarity of the lipid headgroup, with still
unknown biological effects