Publisher Summary Hopanoids are amphipathic components of bacterial cell membranes
and maintain membrane stability by increasing rigidity in the lipid matrix. Thus, the function
of hopanoids in bacteria is analogous to that of membrane sterols in eukaryotes.
Biosynthesis of hopanoids does not require oxygen during squalene cyclization and other
reactions. This chapter describes the structures, distribution, and physiological role of
hopanoids as membrane stabilizers. Structural variations in hopanoids result from linkage …