The consistent correlation between desiccation tolerance in orthodox seed tissue and an accumulation ot certain "late embryogenesis abundant"" (LEAI proteins suggests that these profeins reduce desiccation-induced cellular damage. The aim of the present work was to test this hypothesis. Exogenous abscisic acid {ABAi was used lo elevate the level of heat-soluble LE.A-like proteins in axes from i...

The removal of water through air drying damages membranes, proteins and nucleic acids and is lethal to the majority of organisms. Nevertheless, some vegetative cells of bacteria and cyanobacteria survive extreme desiccation. Understanding the mechanisms of their desiccation tolerance is an important issue in cell biology and holds promise for the metabolic engineering of desiccation-sensitive c...

The viability of recalcitrant seeds is lost following stress from either drying or freezing. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting from uncontrolled metabolic activity are likely responsible for seed sensitivity to drying. Nitric oxide (NO) and the ascorbate-glutathione cycle can be used for the detoxification of ROS, but their roles in the seed response to desiccation remain poorly understoo...

Animals maximize fitness by modulating sleep and foraging strategies in response to changes in nutrient availability. Wild populations of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, display highly variable levels of starvation and desiccation resistance that differ in accordance with geographic location, nutrient availability, and evolutionary history. Further, flies potently modulate sleep in resp...

LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) is a central regulator of seed development that plays a key role in controlling the maturation phase during which storage macromolecules accumulate and the embryo becomes tolerant of desiccation. We queried the genomes of seedless plants and identified a LEC1 homolog in the lycophyte, Selaginella moellendorffii, but not in the bryophyte, Physcomitrella patens. Genetic su...

The vast majority of animal species do not tolerate severe water stress, but the encysted embryo of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana is an exceptionally useful organism to investigate physiological mechanisms for enduring extreme environmental insults. Any substantial reduction in cellular water poses a threat to survival. Nevertheless anhydrobiotic animals survive virtually complete loss o...

Prior to modern typing methods, cross-infection of P. aeruginosa between people with cystic fibrosis (CF) was felt to be rare. Recently a number of studies have demonstrated the presence of clonal strains of P. aeruginosa infecting people with CF. The aim of this study was to determine whether strains of P. aeruginosa demonstrated differences in resistance to desiccation and whether preincubati...

Under laboratory conditions, snail Indoplanorbis exustus exhibited a strongly positive linear correlationship between duration of desiccation to mortality and body-weight loss and also body-weight loss to mortality. The adult stage of snail is highly resistant to desiccation, whereas the juvenile stage is highly susceptible. Reasons for decrease in susceptibility to desiccation with increase in...

Background The insect cuticle covers the whole body and all appendages and has bi-directionnal selective permeability: it protects against environmental stress and pathogen infection and also helps to reduce water loss. The adult cuticle is often associated with a superficial layer of fatty acid-derived molecules such as waxes and long chain hydrocarbons that prevent rapid dehydration. The wate...

UNLABELLED Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a frequent colonizer of the nasopharynx and one of the leading causative agents of otitis media, pneumonia, and meningitis. The current literature asserts that S. pneumoniae is transmitted person to person via respiratory droplets; however, environmental surfaces (fomites) have been linked to the spread of other respiratory pathogens. Desicc...