Circadian stress tolerance in adult Caenorhabditis elegans

Circadian rhythms control several behaviors through neural networks, hormones and gene expression. One of these outputs in invertebrates, vertebrates and plants is the stress resistance behavior. In this work, we studied the circadian variation in abiotic stress resistance of adult C. elegans as well as the genetic mechanisms that underlie such behavior. Measuring the stress resistance by tap response behavior we found a rhythm in response to osmotic (NaCl LC(50) = 340 mM) and oxidative (H(2)O(2) LC(50) = 50 mM) shocks, with a minimum at ZT0 (i.e., lights off) and ZT12 (lights on), respectively. In addition, the expression of glutathione peroxidase (C11E4.1) and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpdh-1) (genes related to the control of stress responses) also showed a circadian fluctuation in basal levels with a peak at night. Moreover, in the mutant osr-1 (AM1 strain), a negative regulator of the gpdh-1 pathway, the osmotic resistance rhythms were masked at 350 mM but reappeared when the strain was treated with a higher NaCl concentration. This work demonstrates for the first time that in the adult nematode, C. elegans stress responses vary daily, and provides evidence of an underlying rhythmic gene expression that governs these behaviors.     

Cortisol promotes stress tolerance via DAF-16 in Caenorhabditis elegans

In this study, we studied the effects of cortisol and cortisone on the age-related decrease in locomotion in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and on the tolerance to heat stress at 35 °C and to oxidative stress induced by the exposure to 0.1% H₂O₂. Changes in mRNA expression levels of C. elegans genes related to stress tolerance were also analyzed. Cortisol treatment restored nematode movement following heat stress and increased viability under oxidative stress, but also shortened worm lifespan. Cortisone, a cortisol precursor, also restored movement after heat stress. Additionally, cortisol treatment increased mRNA expression of the hsp-12.6 and sod-3 genes. Furthermore, cortisol treatment failed to restore movement of daf-16-deficient mutants after heat stress, whereas cortisone failed to restore the movement of dhs-30-deficient mutants after heat stress. In conclusion, the results suggested that cortisol promoted stress tolerance via DAF-16 but shortened the lifespan, whereas cortisone promoted stress tolerance via DHS-30.     

The role of ABA in freezing tolerance and cold acclimation in barley

The role of ABA in freezing resistance in nonacclimated and cold‐acclimated barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) was studied. Eleven nonacclimated cultivars differed in their LT₅₀, ranging from −10.8 to −4.8°C. Sugars, free proline, soluble proteins and ABA were analyzed in nonacclimated cultivars and during cold acclimation of one cultivar. There was an inverse correlation between LT₅₀ and both ABA and sucrose contents. Exogenous ABA caused a decrease in the freezing point of leaf tissue in the cultivar with the lowest level of endogenous ABA, but not in the cultivar with the highest level, suggesting that ABA in the latter may be near the optimum endogenous level to induce freezing tolerance. Plants of cv. Aramir treated with ABA or allowed to acclimate to cold temperature increased their soluble sugar content to a similar level. The LT₅₀ of leaves of cold‐acclimated cv. Aramir decreased from −5.8 to −11.4°C, with biphasic kinetics, accumulating proline and soluble sugars with similar kinetics. The biphasic profile observed during cold acclimation could be a direct consequence of cryoprotectant accumulation kinetics. ABA and soluble protein accumulation showed a single step profile, associated mainly with the second phase of the LT₅₀ decrease. Thus, a significant increase in endogenous ABA is part of the response of barley to low temperature and may be required as a signal for the second phase of cold acclimation. Endogenous ABA contents in the nonacclimated state may determine constitutive freezing tolerance.     

High temperature tolerance and heat acclimation of Opuntia bigelovii

Summary The tolerance of Opuntia bigelovii Engelm. (Cactaceae) to high temperature was investigated by subjecting stems to temperatures ranging from 25°C to 65°C for a 1-h period, after which various properties of chlorenchyma cells were examined. The temperatures at which activities depending on membrane integrity decreased by 50% were 60°C for electrolyte leakage, 52°C for staining by neutral red, and 51°C for plasmolysis for plants maintained at day/night air temperatures of 30°C/20°C. Nocturnal acid accumulation, which depends on stomatal opening and enzymatic reactions as well as membrane properties, was half-inactivated at a lower temperature, 46°C. Visual observation indicated that 50% of the stems subjected to a heat treatment of 52°C became necrotic in 2 weeks.Heat acclimation, which is apparently necessary for survival of O. bigelovii in the field, was investigated by raising the day/night air temperatures from 12°C/2°C to 60°C/50°C in 10°C steps every 2 weeks. The heat tolerance of the cellular properties increased with increasing air temperature; for a 10°C temperature increase, the half-inactivation temperature increased 2.9°C for electrolyte leakage, 3.0°C for staining, 3.8° C for stem survival, and fully 6.1°C for nocturnal acid accumulation. The relative order of these four properties with respect to heat tolerance did not change during the hardening, nocturnal acid accumulation remaining the most heat sensitive. The upper temperature for 50% survival was 59° for O. bigelovii when acclimated to day/night air temperatures of 50°C/40°C.     

Hardening trumps acclimation in improving cold tolerance of Drosophila melanogaster larvae

Abstract Chill‐susceptible insects are able to improve their survival of acute cold exposure over both the short term (i.e. hardening at a relatively severe temperature) and longer term (i.e. acclimation responses at milder temperatures over a longer time frame). However, the mechanistic overlap of these responses is not clear. Four larval stages of four different strains of Drosophila melanogaster are used to test whether low temperature acclimation (10 °C for 48 h) improves the acute cold tolerance (LT₉₀, ～2 h) of larvae, and whether acclimated larvae still show hardening responses after brief exposures to nonlethal cold or heat, or a combination of the two. Acclimation results in increased cold tolerance in three of four strains, with variation among instars. However, if acclimation is followed by hardening pre‐treatments, there is no improvement in acute cold survival. It is concluded that short‐term thermal responses (e.g. hardening) may be of more ecological relevance to short‐lived life stages such as larvae, and that the mechanisms of low temperature hardening and acclimation in D. melanogaster may be antagonistic, rather than complementary.     

Genetic control of temperature preference in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Animals modify behavioral outputs in response to environmental changes. C. elegans exhibits thermotaxis, where well-fed animals show attraction to their cultivation temperature on a thermal gradient without food. We show here that feeding-state-dependent modulation of thermotaxis is a powerful behavioral paradigm for elucidating the mechanism underlying neural plasticity, learning, and memory in higher animals. Starved experience alone could induce aversive response to cultivation temperature. Changing both cultivation temperature and feeding state simultaneously evoked transient attraction to or aversion to the previous cultivation temperature: recultivation of starved animals with food immediately induced attraction to the temperature associated with starvation, although the animals eventually exhibited thermotaxis to the new temperature associated with food. These results suggest that the change in feeding state quickly stimulates the switch between attraction and aversion for the temperature in memory and that the acquisition of new temperature memory establishes more slowly. We isolated aho (abnormal hunger orientation) mutants that are defective in starvation-induced cultivation-temperature avoidance. Some aho mutants responded normally to changes in feeding state with respect to locomotory activity, implying that the primary thermosensation followed by temperature memory formation remains normal and the modulatory aspect of thermotaxis is specifically impaired in these mutants.     

Oxytocin promotes heat stress tolerance via insulin signals in Caenorhabditis elegans

ABSTRACT

Oxytocin, has various physiological functions that have been well studied and many that remain unknown. Here, we aimed to determine new physiological functions of oxytocin using Caenorhabditis elegans. Oxytocin treatment promoted the restoration of movement after heat stress and enhanced the viability under heat stress. However, oxytocin had no effect on the life span and only little effect on the oxidative stress tolerance. In contrast, oxytocin treatment didn’t promote the restoration of movement or enhance the viability of deficient mutants of ntr-1/2, which is the gene encoding the oxytocin receptor. In addition, for mutants of daf-16, daf-2, tax-4, and some insulin-like peptides, the heat stress tolerance effect by oxytocin was canceled. Furthermore, oxytocin increased the expression levels of the DAF-16 target genes. Our results suggest that oxytocin treatment promoted the heat stress tolerance of C. elegans via the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway.     

The Genetic Basis of Natural Variation in Caenorhabditis elegans Telomere Length

Telomeres are involved in the maintenance of chromosomes and the prevention of genome instability. Despite this central importance, significant variation in telomere length has been observed in a variety of organisms. The genetic determinants of telomere-length variation and their effects on organismal fitness are largely unexplored. Here, we describe natural variation in telomere length across the Caenorhabditis elegans species. We identify a large-effect variant that contributes to differences in telomere length. The variant alters the conserved oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding fold of protection of telomeres 2 (POT-2), a homolog of a human telomere-capping shelterin complex subunit. Mutations within this domain likely reduce the ability of POT-2 to bind telomeric DNA, thereby increasing telomere length. We find that telomere-length variation does not correlate with offspring production or longevity in C. elegans wild isolates, suggesting that naturally long telomeres play a limited role in modifying fitness phenotypes in C. elegans.     

Low temperature acclimation to chilling tolerance in rice roots

Rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.) were subjected to low temperature pretreatment (LT-PT; 10°C) for various length of time (1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, 24 h) followed by a 48-h chilling temperature stress (2°C). Chilling temperature tolerance of rice roots was improved with increasing duration of LT-PT, but LT-PT longer than 12 h gave no additional improvement. Alcohol dehydrogenase activity and ethanol concentration in the roots were increased with increasing duration of LT-PT up to 12 h. Chilling tolerance was also improved by exogenously applied ethanol. These results suggest that LT-PT may increase chilling tolerance in rice roots owing to ethanol accumulation in the roots and LT-PT acclimation to chilling temperature may occur within 12 h.     

植物抗寒及其基因表达研究进展

植物经过逐渐降低的温度从而提高抗寒能力 ,这个过程被人们称为低温驯化。植物低温驯化过程是一个复杂的生理、生化和能量代谢变化过程 ,这些变化主要包括膜系统的稳定性、可溶性蛋白的积累和小分子渗透物质 ,比如脯氨酸、糖等 ,这些变化中的一些是植物抗寒必需的 ,而另外一些变化不是必需的。主要对冷害和低温生理生化变化、低温诱导表达基因的功能和作用、低温驯化的调节机制及其信号转导方面进行了综述。通过差别筛选 c DNA文库的方法已经鉴定了许多低温诱导表达、进而提高植物抗寒能力的基因 ,其中有脱水素、COR基因和 CBF1转录因子等。低温信号的感受、转导和调节表达是低温驯化的关键环节 ,低温信号的转导过程与干旱胁迫之间具有一定的交叉 ,这为利用 ABA等来提高植物抗寒能力成为可能 ,相信不久的将来人们可以通过提高植物抗寒能力从而增加经济产量成为现实。     

Freezing tolerance, cold acclimation and oxidative stress in potato. Paraquat tolerance is related to acclimation but is a poor indicator of freezing tolerance

Potato is a species commonly cultivated in temperate areas where the growing season may be interrupted by frosts, resulting in loss of yield. Cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum, is freezing sensitive, but it has several freezing-tolerant wild potato relatives, one of which is S. commersonii. Our study was aimed to resolve the relationship between enhanced freezing tolerance, acclimation capacity and capacity to tolerate active oxygen species. To be able to characterize freezing tolerant ideotypes, a potato population (S1), which segregates in freezing tolerance, acclimation capacity and capacity to tolerate superoxide radicals, was produced by selfing a somatic hybrid between a freezing-tolerant Solanum commersonii (LT₅₀=-4.6°C) and -sensitive S. tuberosum (LT₅₀=-3.0°C). The distribution of non-acclimated freezing tolerance (NA-freezing tolerance) of the S1 population varied between the parental lines and we were able to identify genotypes, having significantly high or low NA-freezing tolerance. When a population of 25 genotypes was tested both for NA-freezing and paraquat (PQ) tolerance, no correlation was found between these two traits (R = 0.02). However, the most NA-freezing tolerant genotypes were also among the most PQ tolerant plants. Simultaneously, one of the NA-freezing sensitive genotypes (2022) (LT₅₀=-3.0°C) was observed to be PQ tolerant. These conflicting results may reflect a significant, but not obligatory, role of superoxide scavenging mechanisms in the NA-freezing tolerance of S. commersonii. The freezing tolerance after cold acclimation (CA-freezing tolerance) and the acclimation capacity (AC) was measured after acclimation for 7 days at 4/2°C. Lack of correlation between NA-freezing tolerance and AC (R =-0.05) in the S1 population points to independent genetic control of NA-freezing tolerance and AC in Solanum sp. Increased freezing tolerance after cold acclimation was clearly related to PQ tolerance of all S1 genotypes, especially those having good acclimation capacity. The rapid loss of improved PQ tolerance under deacclimation conditions confirmed the close relationship between the process of cold acclimation and enhanced PQ tolerance. Here, we report an increased PQ tolerance in cold-acclimated plants compared to non-acclimated controls. However, we concluded that high PQ tolerance is not a good indicator of actual freezing tolerance and should not be used as a selectable marker for the identification of a freezing-tolerant genotype.     

Drought acclimation confers cold tolerance in the soil collembolan Folsomia candida

It has been noted that both summer drought and sub-zero winter temperatures induce the synthesis of sugars and polyols in invertebrate tissues. This has led several authors to suggest that many of the adaptations, previously viewed as a response to cold, might be part of a more universal desiccation tolerance mechanism. Here we show that acclimation of the soil dwelling collembolan Folsomia candida to a sublethal desiccation stress confers tolerance to cold shock and a significant increase in the molar percent of membrane fatty acids with a mid-chain double bond. These changes in membrane fatty acids are interpreted as conferring a significant reduction in the transition temperature of cell membranes, as would be expected in acclimation to cold, and these changes are therefore interpreted as contributing to the cross-tolerance. Drought acclimation was also shown to trigger the synthesis of the 70kDa family of heat-shock proteins (Hsp70). This group of heat shock proteins is implicated in the reestablishment of the normal three-dimensional structure of partially unfolded proteins and therefore are also likely to contribute to the observed cross-tolerance. This study provides evidence that the stresses exerted by desiccation and cold at the cellular level have sufficient similarities to induce overlapping adaptations.     

Effects of acclimation and diapause on the cold tolerance of Trogoderma granarium

Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae), is a pest of stored grain in Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is a quarantine insect for much of the rest of the world. Control of T. granarium can be achieved with methyl bromide, but this fumigant is an ozone‐depleting substance and is being phased out worldwide. Thus, there is an urgent need to find new methods of control, including the use of low temperatures. Here, we assess the effects of diapause and cold acclimation on the cold tolerance of T. granarium. The percentage of larvae in diapause increased with larval density, reaching 57.3% when reared at a density of 73 larvae g^?1 diet. The cold tolerance of T. granarium was assessed by the supercooling points (SCPs) of various life stages. The SCP of non‐acclimated insects ranged from ?26.2 ± 0.2 °C (mean ± SEM) for eggs to ?14.4 ± 0.4 °C for larvae. The lowest SCP for larvae, ?24.3 ± 0.3 °C, was obtained for diapausing‐acclimated larvae. Based on mean LT₅₀ values, the most cold‐tolerant stage at ?10 °C was the diapausing‐acclimated larvae (87 days) followed by non‐diapausing‐acclimated larvae (51 days), diapausing non‐acclimated larvae (19 days), adults (4 days), non‐diapausing non‐acclimated larvae (2 days), pupae (0.4 days), and eggs (0.2 days). The estimated times to obtain 99.9968% mortality (Probit 9) for diapausing‐acclimated larvae are 999, 442, 347, 84, and 15 days at 0, ?5, ?10, ?15, and ?20 °C, respectively. Probit 9 is an estimated value used by quarantine experts to estimate conditions that are required to kill all insects. In light of the long exposure time needed to control T. granarium even at ?20 °C, cooling to below ?27 °C (i.e., below the SCP of eggs) will quickly kill all life stages and may be the best way to control this insect with low temperatures.     

Natural genetic variation drives microbiome selection in the Caenorhabditis elegans gut

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Photosynthesis,photoinhibition and low temperature acclimation in cold tolerant plants

Cold acclimation requires adjustment to a combination of light and low temperature, conditions which are potentially photoinhibitory. The photosynthetic response of plants to low temperature is dependent upon time of exposure and the developmental history of the leaves. Exposure of fully expanded leaves of winter cereals to short-term, low temperature shiftsinhibits whereas low temperature growthstimulates electron transport capacity and carbon assimilation. However, the photosynthetic response to low temperature is clearly species and cultivar dependent. Winter annuals and algae which actively grow and develop at low temperature and moderate irradiance acquire a resistance to irradiance 5- to 6-fold higher than their growth irradiance. Resistance to short-term photoinhibition (hours) in winter cereals is a reflection of the increased capacity to keep Q_A oxidized under high light conditions and low temperature. This is due to an increased capacity for photosynthesis. These characteristics reflect photosynthetic acclimation to low growth temperature and can be used to predict the freezing tolerance of cereals. It is proposed that the enhanced photosynthetic capacity reflects an increased flux of fixed carbon through to sucrose in source tissue as a consequence of the combined effects of increased storage of carbohydrate as fructans in the vacuole of leaf mesophyll cells and an enhanced export to the crown due to its increased sink activity. Long-term exposure (months) of cereals to low temperature photoinhibition indicates that this reduction of photochemical efficiency of PS II represents a stable, long-term down regulation of PS II to match the energy requirements for CO₂ fixation. Thus, photoinhibition in vivo should be viewed as the capacity of plants to adjust photosynthetically to the prevailing environmental conditions rather than a process which necessarily results in damage or injury to plants. Not all cold tolerant, herbaceous annuals use the same mechanism to acquire resistance to photoinhibition. In contrast to annuals and algae, overwintering evergreens become dormant during the cold hardening period and generally remain susceptible to photoinhibition. It is concluded that the photosynthetic response to low temperatures and susceptibility to photoinhibition are consequences of the overwintering strategy of the plant species.