Ladderanes
http://blueline.ucdavis.edu/2ndTier/3rdTier/Ladderanes.html
This website contains beautiful images of the unusual microbial lipid class known as ladderanes found in anammox bacteria. Ladderanes are hydrocarbons consisting of two or more fused cyclobutane rings.
Ladderanes of microbial life
http://www.nature.com/nature/links/021017/021017-7.html
This webpage contains links to scientific papers describing the chemistry and biology of ladderanes.
Membrane structure and function
http://www.cytochemistry.net/Cell-biology/membrane_intro.htm
This website offers a good primer on membranes with excellent electron micrographs and diagrams.
Fatty acids: Hydroxy, epoxy, and furanoid
http://www.lipidlibrary.co.uk/Lipids/fa_oxy/index.htm
This webpage from the Lipid Library describes unusual functionalized fatty acids that are distributed throughout the biological world.
Novel fatty acids of marine origin
http://graduados.uprrp.edu/cnquimica/program/faculty/carballeira/carballeira.htm
This faculty web page describes natural product chemistry focused on elucidating the structures of novel fatty acids found in sediments that are largely of microbial origin.
MetaCyc Pathway: cyclopropane and cyclopropene fatty acid biosynthesis
http://biocyc.org/META/new-image?type=PATHWAY&object=PWY-4942
This webpage contains information on the biosynthesis of fatty acids containing a three membered carbon ring. These unusual lipids are found in bacteria and plants.
Literature survey: Extraction of lipids
http://www.lipidlibrary.co.uk/lit_surv/general/ext_meth.htm
This page from the Lipid Library contains many references relevant to the extraction and characterization of fatty acids from various biological sources.
Pfam: cis-trans isomerase
http://pfam.ccbb.re.kr/cgi-bin/getdesc?name=CTI
This Pfam webpage contains information on the proteins that catalyze the cis-trans isomerization of unsaturated fatty acids. These enzymes are found in bacteria of the orders Vibrionales and Pseudomonadales and have been shown to be expressed in response to solvent stress.
Ether lipids of methanogenic bacteria
http://www.uoeh-u.ac.jp/kouza/ikagaku/research_e.html
This page describes research on ether lipids. Ether lipids are characteristically found in microbes from the Kingdom Archaea.
Ether lipid: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether_lipid
This Wikipedia webpage on ether lipids shows many structures. It also points out that these types of lipids are found in mammals and anaerobic bacteria (Archaea such as methanogens principly).
Phylogeny of bacterial lipids
http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/388F0E4B-1ADC-4E98-999B-CA3B7BB7D769/0/lindsay.pdf
This Powerpoint presentation describes many microbial lipid types. It focuses on the observation that certain lipid classes are characteristic for certain classes of microbes and thus can be used to derive taxonomic information.
Hopanoids: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopanoids
Hopanoids are pentacyclic membrane constituents in microbes. As such, they are thought to function analogously to cholesterol in the membranes of mammals.
Membrane hydrocarbons
http://www.cyberlipid.org/simple/simp0002.htm
This webpage describes hydrocarbons, found throughout the biological world, and often thought to be derived from fatty acid precursors.
Lipid bank
http://lipidbank.jp/
This website serves as a major database on the biochemistry of lipids. It is organized according to lipid type and contains much useful information.