Biogeochemistry of Gavish Sabkha Sediments. I. Studies on neutral reducing sugars and lipid moieties by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Methyl sugars may become important markers for groups of bacteria living in deposits. The methyl sugars in the Sabkha sediment are presumably released from the lipopolysaccharides of the bacterial cell wall. A large number of lipids with peculiar structures have been encountered for the first time. It is likely that several of these molecules are useful markers for specific microbial communities.