We examined seasonal changes in freeze tolerance and the susceptibility of larvae of the gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis to inoculative freezing within the goldenrod gall (Solidago sp.). In late September, when the water content of the galls was high (approximately 55%), more than half of the larvae froze within their galls when held at -2.5 degrees C for 24 h, and nearly all larvae froze at -4 o...

Winter survival for many cold-blooded species involves freeze tolerance, the capacity to endure the freezing of a high percentage of total body water as extracellular ice. The wood frog (Rana sylvatica) is the primary model animal used for studies of vertebrate freeze tolerance and current studies in my lab are focused on the freeze-induced changes in gene expression that support freezing survi...

The wood frog ( Rana sylvatica) is a freeze-tolerant species that encounters subzero temperatures during its winter breeding season, whereas the leopard frog ( R. pipiens) is freeze intolerant and breeds in spring. Osmotic and freezing tolerances of spermatozoa from these species were inferred from spermolysis rate, integrity of the plasma membrane as judged using vital dye assay, and motility ...

The wood frog, Rana sylvatica, has numerous adaptations that allow it to survive freezing of up to 65% of its total body water during the winter. Such adaptations have been found to include the expression of novel freeze responsive genes that are thought to be important for adaptation and survival. In this study, the tissue-specific stress responsive expression of one novel gene, fr47, was asse...

The movement of water and small solutes is integral to the survival of freezing and desiccation in insects, yet the underlying mechanisms of these processes are not fully known. Recent evidence suggests that aquaporin (AQP) water channels play critical roles in protecting cells from osmotic damage during freezing and desiccation. Our study sequenced, functionally characterized and measured the ...

Abstract The J.R. Simplot Ex-Situ Bioremediation Technology, also known as the J.R. Simplot Anaerobic Bioremediation (SABRETM) process, is designed to anaerobically degrade nitroaromatic and energetic compounds with total destruction of toxic intermediate compounds at the completion of treatment. An evaluation of this technology was conducted under the SITE Program on soils contaminated with 2,...

The wood frog Rana sylvatica survives for weeks during winter hibernation with up to 65% body water frozen as ice. Natural freeze tolerance includes both seasonal and freeze-induced molecular adaptations that control ice formation, deal with long-term ischemia, regulate cell volume changes, and protect macromolecules. This report identifies and characterizes a novel freeze-inducible gene, li16,...

Subarctic populations of the wood frog Rana sylvatica survive freezing to temperatures at least 10–13°C below those of more southerly conspecifics. This profound freeze tolerance is due in part to an enhanced glucosic cryoprotectant system that requires rapid mobilization of glucose from hepatocytes during the early hours of freezing. To determine if glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) in the liver c...

Cold acclimation of winter cereals and other winter hardy species is a prerequisite to increase subsequent freezing tolerance. Low temperatures upregulate the expression of C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding transcription factors (CBF/DREB1) which in turn induce the expression of COLD-REGULATED (COR) genes. We summarize evidence which indicates that the integration of these interac...

Wintertime measurements near Barrow, Alaska, showed that bacteria near the surface of first-year sea ice and in overlying saline snow experience more extreme temperatures and salinities, and wider fluctuations in both parameters, than bacteria deeper in the ice. To examine impacts of such conditions on bacterial survival, two Arctic isolates with different environmental tolerances were subjecte...