ArticleNature communications2023
Sterol methyltransferases in uncultured bacteria complicate eukaryotic biomarker interpretations.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chemical characterization of CProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The Evolutionary History and Modern Diversity of Triterpenoid Cyclases.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- The evolutionary history and modern diversity of triterpenoid cyclases.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Biosignatures of diverse eukaryotic life from a Snowball Earth analogue environment in Antarctica.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The Rise of Algae promoted eukaryote predation in the Neoproterozoic benthos.Science advances · 2025Article
- Ediacaran origin and Ediacaran-Cambrian diversification of Metazoa.Science advances · 2024Article
- Common origin of sterol biosynthesis points to a feeding strategy shift in Neoproterozoic animals.Nature communications · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Sterane molecular fossils are broadly interpreted as eukaryotic biomarkers, although diverse bacteria also produce sterols. Steranes with side-chain methylations can act as more specific biomarkers if their sterol precursors are limited to particular eukaryotes and are absent in bacteria. One such sterane, 24-isopropylcholestane, has been attributed to demosponges and potentially represents the earliest evidence for animals on Earth, but enzymes that methylate sterols to give the 24-isopropyl side-chain remain undiscovered. Here, we show that sterol methyltransferases from both sponges and yet-uncultured bacteria function in vitro and identify three methyltransferases from symbiotic bacteria each capable of sequential methylations resulting in the 24-isopropyl sterol side-chain. We demonstrate that bacteria have the genomic capacity to synthesize side-chain alkylated sterols, and that bacterial symbionts may contribute to 24-isopropyl sterol biosynthesis in demosponges. Together, our results suggest bacteria should not be dismissed as potential contributing sources of side-chain alkylated sterane biomarkers in the rock record.
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Registered trials
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