Dry preservation has been explored as an energy-efficient alternative to cryopreservation, but the high sensitivity of mammalian cells to desiccation stress has been one of the major hurdles in storing cells in the desiccated state. An important strategy to reduce desiccation sensitivity involves use of the disaccharide trehalose. Trehalose is known to improve desiccation tolerance in mammalian...

When hosts experience environmental stress, the quantity and quality of resources they provide for parasites may be diminished, and host longevity may be decreased. Under stress, parasites may adopt alternative strategies to avoid fitness reductions. Trematode parasites typically have complex life cycles, involving asexual reproduction in a gastropod first intermediate host. A rare phenomenon, ...

The present study analyses changes in nitrogen compounds, amino acid composition, and glutamate metabolism in the resurrection plant Sporobolus stapfianus during dehydration stress. Results showed that older leaves (OL) were desiccation-sensitive whereas younger leaves (YL) were desiccation-tolerant. OL lost their soluble protein more rapidly, and to a larger extent than YL. Enzymes of primary ...

Intertidal macroalgae must tolerate temperature, light, and desiccation stresses when the tide recedes, and differences in physiological tolerance to these environmental stresses contribute directly to zonation patterns and community structure along the shore. When low tides occur on particularly hot sunny days, seaweeds may sustain physiological damage, lose pigment, and ‘bleach.’ Because blea...

We exposed adult male Drosophila melanogaster to cold, desiccation or starvation, and examined expression of several genes during exposure and recovery. Frost was expressed during recovery from cold, and was up-regulated during desiccation. Desiccation and starvation (but not cold) elicited increased expression of the senescence-related gene smp-30. Desat2 decreased during recovery from desicca...

The success of insects in terrestrial environments is due in large part to their ability to resist desiccation stress. Since the majority of water is lost across the cuticle, a relatively water-impermeable cuticle is a major component of insect desiccation resistance. Cuticular permeability is affected by the properties and mixing effects of component hydrocarbons, and changes in cuticular hydr...