Fridovich identified CuZnSOD in 1969 and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) in
1973, and proposed” the Superoxide Theory,” which postulates that superoxide (O 2•−) is the …

Termites are social insects, presenting morphologically distinct castes, performing specific
tasks in the colony. The developmental processes underlying caste differentiation are mainly …

Anhydrobiosis represents an extreme example of tolerance adaptation to water loss, where
an organism can survive in an ametabolic state until water returns. Here we report the first …

Background Numerous cases of predator-induced polyphenisms, in which alternate phenotypes
are produced in response to extrinsic stimuli, have been reported in aquatic taxa to date…

An African chironomid, Polypedilum vanderplanki, is the only insect known to be capable of
extreme desiccation tolerance, or anhydrobiosis. In the 1950s and 1960s, Hinton …

We recently cloned a trehalose transporter gene (Tret1) that contributes to anhydrobiosis
induction in the sleeping chironomid Polypedilum vanderplanki Hinton. Because trehalose is …

The morphological diversity of insects is one of the most striking phenomena in biology.
Evolutionary modifications to the relative sizes of body parts, including the evolution of traits with …

Anhydrobiotic chironomid larvae can withstand prolonged complete desiccation as well as
other external stresses including ionizing radiation. To understand the cross-tolerance …

Larvae of an anhydrobiotic insect, Polypedilum vanderplanki, accumulate very large
amounts of trehalose as a compatible solute on desiccation, but the molecular mechanisms …

LEA proteins are found in anhydrobiotes and are thought to be associated with the acquisition
of desiccation tolerance. The sleeping chironomid Polypedilum vanderplanki, which can …