Bacteria are weaving forever chemicals directly into their cell membranes (Mar 2026) Bacteria covalently incorporate polyfluoroalkyl carboxylates into membrane lipids Other

[Michael Harrop]

https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bacteria-chemicals-cell-membranes.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-026-02301-x

PFAS are a class of compounds that are currently receiving a lot of attention for their potential impact on human and environmental health, but in fact, we know relatively little about how they interact with living systems. The finding that bacteria can incorporate some of these compounds into their lipid membranes is an early step forward in understanding how organisms may respond to this ubiquitous group of human-made chemicals.

The bacterial process identified in the research paper could contribute to cleaning up environmental PFAS contamination, although final disposal of the chemicals is still an unsolved issue.

Click to shrink...

Abstract​

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), also known as forever chemicals, are global contaminants, but understanding of microbiota–PFAS interactions is limited.

Here we show that bacteria covalently incorporate n:3 fluorotelomer carboxylates (FTCAs) into phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol, two prominent components of bacterial lipid bilayers. Lipidomics of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain 273 grown in the presence of 7:3 FTCA or 8:3 FTCA estimated that 7–12% of the bacterium’s glycerophospholipid pool contains the respective polyfluoroacyl chains.

This covalent incorporation was observed in five other axenic bacterial cultures tested, including other Pseudomonas species, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, albeit with lower incorporation percentages. Incorporation occurred over a broad concentration range, and n:3 FTCAs with varying chain length were covalently incorporated into membranes.

Biotransformation of polyfluoroalkyl substances (also known as precursors) results in n:3 FTCA intermediates, which bacteria can covalently incorporate into their glycerophospholipid pools. We conclude that bacteria can form fluoromembranes when exposed to precursors and are a potential PFAS sink.

Click to shrink...

 

[SFBayFMT5]

It would be interesting to study the membrane properties of the bacteria that have >5% of their membrane lipids fluorinated due to culture in PFAS, e.g. in terms of ion leak, functioning of electron transport chain proteins, etc. Although they state that the concentration of PFAS they used did not noticeably impair growth, likely under ideal culture conditions, it's certainly possible that their ability to withstand certain stress conditions is altered.

Also did you see the paper showing that human gut bacteria absorb these too (though don't incorporate them into their membranes)? It's reference #11 in the paper you linked, there's no direct Pubmed link to it in the references section but if you copy/paste the title into Pubmed or Google you'll find it.