Paula V. Welander

This paper identifies a bacterial 8,14-sterol reductase responsible for generating the 8(14)-unsaturation in sterols produced by aerobic methanotrophs and related organisms.

This study identifies a complex lipid profile in Borrelia burgdorferi, revealing its reliance on environmental lipids and its ability to synthesize eukaryotic-like lipids.

The paper identifies key residues in bacterial SMTs necessary for sterol side-chain propylation and shows their conservation across methylating, ethylating, and propylating SMTs.

This paper identifies novel radical SAM enzymes involved in archaeal lipid methylation, desaturation, and hydroxy-GDGT biosynthesis using three archaeal species.

The paper identifies and characterizes archaeal lipoprotein biogenesis components, showing their essential role in archaeal cell physiology and revealing distinct enzymatic activities.

This study investigates the evolutionary history and functional diversity of triterpenoid cyclases using biochemical assays and evolutionary models, revealing deep divergence and potential positive selection in key enzyme regions.

This paper identifies two myxobacteria capable of cholesterol biosynthesis, reveals a distinct pathway and reductase enzyme, and provides phylogenomic evidence for complex evolutionary history of sterol biosynthesis in Myxococcota.

The paper identifies and characterizes diterpenoid cyclases in Asgardarchaeota, showing they produce bicyclic halimadienyl pyrophosphate, potentially relevant to microbial persistence.