Abstract
Exceptional resistance to dehydration allows species of bdelloid rotifers to tolerate desiccation stress in unpredictable habitats. The roles of exogenous and endogenous factors in resistance to short-term dehydration were investigated in Rotaria rotatoria to better understand this capacity among bdelloid rotifers. As the dehydration period was increased and the relative humidity (RH) was reduced, the proportion of rotifers active after the dehydration period decreased. The RH and dehydration period substantially influenced the recovery rate of R. rotatoria under rehydration for 1 h but had less effect under 12-h or 24-h rehydration treatment. The recovery rate was lower in rotifers subjected to a long dehydration period and short rehydration time, but improved by shortening the dehydration period and extending the rehydration treatment. Strain ZJ27 showed higher survivability than strain HX8, appropriate to their habitat near the sea in a region where drought and tropical rainstorms are frequent. Accordingly, species or strains originating from different climate regions and habitats will have experienced different frequencies of desiccation over their adaptive evolutionary history, resulting in varying levels of resistance among species. In addition, RH is shown to be a key factor in resistance to desiccation.
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Acknowledgements
XX, CW, and YX participated in the conception and design of the study; CW contributed to the collection of samples; CW, LH, LZ, JX, XW, and XX analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the manuscript. Cynthia Kulongowski with Liwen Bianji (Edanz) (www.liwenbianji.cn) assisted with editing the language of a draft of this manuscript.
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This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (31872208), the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (2308085MC72), the University Synergy Innovation Program of Anhui Province (GXXT-2020-075) and the Natural Science Foundation in College of Anhui Province (KJ2020A0632).
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Xiang, X., Wang, C., Huang, L. et al. The resistance to short-term dehydration in the bdelloid rotifer Rotaria rotatoria from different climate regions. Hydrobiologia (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05375-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05375-4