Locating the position of hydrocarbons in cyanobacterial membranes: a step towards understanding the role of hydrocarbons in curvature

Cyanobacteria contain photosynthetic membranes called thylakoids that host the necessary proteins for photosynthesis. It has been shown that these thylakoid lipid membranes contain up to 17 mol% hydrocarbon in their compositions. Where the hydrocarbon sits within the lipid leaflets and its purpose is not known.There is limited literature on hydrocarbons within complex membrane mimetics and it is expected that tail saturation, head group charge and membrane fluidity will impact the position and level of incorporation of hydrocarbon within the membrane. The hydrocarbon aligning with the tails could decrease bilayer rigidity whereas the hydrocarbon sitting between the leaflets would increase membrane thickness and cause leaflet decoupling.This neutron reflectivity experiment will give evidence to the position of heptadecane (C17) within planar lipid-model cyanobacterial membranes.