Influence of lipid bilayer properties on the evolutionary loss of betaine lipids in seed plants

Our work gives a possible explanation for an intriguing question that is unanswered for more than 30 years, since the discovery of betaine lipids: why seed plants lost their capacity to synthesized them if betaine lipids are a good substitute for phospholipids during phosphate starvation?

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-023-01775-z