Trehalose and Vitreous States: Desiccation Tolerance of Dormant Stages of the Crustaceans Triops and Daphnia

Several aquatic organisms are able to withstand extreme desiccation in at least one of their life stages. This is commonly known as "anhydrobiosis." It was often thought that to tolerate such a desiccated state required high amounts of compatible solutes such as the nonreducing disaccharid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiological and biochemical zoology 2011-03, Vol.84 (2), p.147-153
Main Authors: Hengherr, S., Heyer, A. G., Brümmer, F., Schill, R. O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological - physiology
Animals
Crustacea - physiology
Daphnia magna
Daphnia pulex
Desiccation
Freshwater
Ovum - physiology
Trehalose - chemistry
Trehalose - metabolism
Triops
Triops australiensis
Triops cancriformis
Triops longicaudatus
Water - metabolism
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Summary:Several aquatic organisms are able to withstand extreme desiccation in at least one of their life stages. This is commonly known as "anhydrobiosis." It was often thought that to tolerate such a desiccated state required high amounts of compatible solutes such as the nonreducing disaccharide trehalose, which protects cellular structures by water replacement and glass formation. Trehalose levels of dormant eggs and cysts of five freshwater crustaceans (Daphnia magna, Daphnia pulex, Triops longicaudatus, Triops cancriformis, and Triops australiensis) were observed in different states of hydration and dehydration. Although trehalose was detected in all species, the concentration was under 0.5% of the dry weight (0.05 μg/μg protein), and no change between the different states was observed. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements indicated that dried cysts of all Triops species were in a glassy state, supporting the vitrification hypothesis. No indication for a vitreous state was found in dried resting eggs of Daphnia.
ISSN:1522-2152
1537-5293
DOI:10.1086/658499