Planta

, Volume 242, Issue 2, pp 389–396 | Cite as

The C. elegans dauer larva as a paradigm to study metabolic suppression and desiccation tolerance

Review
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:
Part of the following topical collections:
  1. Desiccation Biology

Abstract

Main conclusion

The hypometabolic, stress-resistant dauer larva of Caenorhabditis elegans serves as an excellent model to study the molecular mechanisms of desiccation tolerance, such as maintenance of membrane organization, protein folding, xenobiotic and ROS detoxification in the dry state.

Many organisms from diverse taxa of life have the remarkable ability to survive extreme desiccation in the nature by entering an ametabolic state known as anhydrobiosis (life without water). The hallmark of the anhydrobiotic state is the achievement and maintenance of an exceedingly low metabolic rate, as well as preservation of the structural integrity of the cell. Although described more than three centuries ago, the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still not fully comprehended. This is mainly due to the fact that anhydrobiosis in animals was studied using non-model organisms, which are very difficult, if not impossible, to manipulate at the molecular level. Recently, we introduced the roundworm (nematode) Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for anhydrobiosis. Taking advantage of powerful genetic, biochemical and biophysical tools, we investigated several aspects of anhydrobiosis in a particular developmental stage (the dauer larva) of this organism. First, our studies allowed confirming the previously suggested role of the disaccharide trehalose in the preservation of lipid membranes. Moreover, in addition to known pathways such as reactive oxygen species defense, heat-shock and intrinsically disordered protein expression, evidence for some novel strategies of anhydrobiosis has been obtained. These are increased glyoxalase activity, polyamine and polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis. All these pathways may constitute a generic toolbox of anhydrobiosis, which is possibly conserved between animals and plants.

Keywords

Ametabolism Anhydrobiosis Drought tolerance Hypometabolism Nematode Trehalose 

Abbreviations

Cas

CRISPR-associated

CRISPR

Clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats

dsRNA

Double-stranded RNA

GFP

Green fluorescent protein

HSP

Heat-shock protein

IDP

Intrinsically disordered protein

LEA

Late embryogenesis abundant

PC

Phosphatidylcholine

PE

Phosphatidylethanolamine

PUFA

Polyunsaturated fatty acid

RH

Relative humidity

RNAi

RNA interference

ROS

Reactive oxygen species

TGF-β

Transforming growth factor beta

TPS

Trehalose 6-phosphate synthase

TRPV

Transient receptor potential, vanilloid type

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and GeneticsDresdenGermany

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