Was macht diese Kreatur fast unbesiegbar? Biologen haben eine neue Erkenntnis gewonnen

Forscher verbessern ihr Verständnis der Widerstandsfähigkeit von Bärtierchen.

Forscher bei Universität von Wyoming Ich habe mehr über die biologischen Prozesse erfahren, die es winzigen Organismen, die als Bärtierchen bekannt sind, ermöglichen, extremen Bedingungen wie der vollständigen Austrocknung in schwebender Animation jahrelang zu widerstehen.

Thomas Boothby, Assistenzprofessor für Molekularbiologie, und Kollegen entdeckten, wie Trehalose, ein Zucker, mit Proteinen interagiert, damit Bärtierchen in Abwesenheit von Wasser überleben können. Ihre Ergebnisse wurden kürzlich in der Zeitschrift veröffentlicht Kommunikationsbiologie.

Bärtierchen, oft als Bärtierchen bekannt, sind weniger als einen halben Millimeter lang und können Austrocknung und Gefrieren bis knapp darüber vollständig tolerieren[{“ attribute=““>absolute zero (approximately minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit, when all molecular motion ceases), heated to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit, irradiated several thousand times beyond what a person can withstand, and even survive the vacuum of outer space.

Tardigrades’ ability to survive being dried out has perplexed scientists since it seems to vary from that of a number of other species that can enter suspended animation. Previously, scientists believed tardigrades did not produce trehalose to survive drying out, but Boothby and his colleagues discovered that they do, although at lower levels than other organisms.

The researchers also found that, in tardigrades, trehalose works synergistically with another tardigrade-specific protein called CAHS D.

Ultimately, Boothby and other researchers hope that their discoveries can be applied to help solve societal and global health issues — in this case, water scarcity. Their work might lead to better ways of stabilizing pharmaceuticals and generating engineered crops that can cope with harsh environments.

“A long-term goal of this field is to understand better how to confer the adaptation abilities of tardigrades to organisms that do not naturally survive drying,” Boothby says. “This study and its findings provide a compelling argument that to do so may require the combination of different, synergistic protectants.”

Reference: “Trehalose and tardigrade CAHS proteins work synergistically to promote desiccation tolerance” by Kenny Nguyen, Shraddha KC, Tyler Gonzalez, Hugo Tapia, and Thomas C. Boothby, 1 October 2022, Communications Biology.
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04015-2

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Institutes of Health.