Abstract

Graphical AbstractThe membrane lipids of archaea and bacteria are typically very different, a dichotomy known as the “lipid divide”. However, it is now known that archaeal and bacterial lipids can form stable membranes, both in the lab and in nature. So why don't they? If not lipids themselves, the lipid divide may be driven by adverse interactions of membrane proteins with foreign lipids. More details can be found in the Hypothesis article 1800251 by Victor Sojo, Why the Lipid Divide? Membrane Proteins as Drivers of the Split between the Lipids of the Three Domains of Life, DOI: 10.1002/bies.201800251.