| 1. |
- Beltrán-Pardo, Eliana, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of ionizing radiation on embryos of the tardigrade Milnesium cf. tardigradum at different stages of development
- 2013
-
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - 1932-6203. ; 8:9, s. e72098-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades represent one of the most desiccation and radiation tolerant animals on Earth, and several studies havedocumented their tolerance in the adult stage. Studies on tolerance during embryological stages are rare, but differentialeffects of desiccation and freezing on different developmental stages have been reported, as well as dose-dependent effectof gamma irradiation on tardigrade embryos. Here, we report a study evaluating the tolerance of eggs from theeutardigrade Milnesium cf. tardigradum to three doses of gamma radiation (50, 200 and 500 Gy) at the early, middle, andlate stage of development. We found that embryos of the middle and late developmental stages were tolerant to all doses,while eggs in the early developmental stage were tolerant only to a dose of 50 Gy, and showed a declining survival withhigher dose. We also observed a delay in development of irradiated eggs, suggesting that periods of DNA repair might havetaken place after irradiation induced damage. The delay was independent of dose for eggs irradiated in the middle and latestage, possibly indicating a fixed developmental schedule for repair after induced damage. These results show that thetolerance to radiation in tardigrade eggs changes in the course of their development. The mechanisms behind this patternare unknown, but may relate to changes in mitotic activities over the embryogenesis and/or to activation of responsemechanisms to damaged DNA in the course of development.
|
|
| 2. |
- Beltran-Pardo, Eliana, et al.
(författare)
-
Sequence analysis of the DNA-repair gene rad51 in the tardigrades Milnesium cf. tardigradum, Hypsibius dujardini and Macrobiotus cf. harmsworthi
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of limnology. - 1129-5767 .- 1723-8633. ; 72:s1, s. 80-91
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades are known for being resistant to extreme conditions, including tolerance to ionising and UV radiation in both the hydratedand the dehydrated state. It is known that these factors may cause damage to DNA. It has recently been shown that single and double DNAstrand breaks occur when tardigrades are maintained for a long time in the anhydrobiotic state. This may suggest that perhaps tardigrades rely on efficient DNA repair mechanisms. Among all proteins that comprise the DNA repair system, recombinases such as RecA or Rad51 have a very important function: DNA exchange activity. This enzyme is used in the homologous recombination and allows repair of thedamaged strand using homologous non-damaged strands as a template. In this study, Rad51 induction was evaluated by western blot in Milnesium cf. tardigradum, after exposure to gamma radiation. The Rad51 protein was highly induced by radiation, when compared to the control. The rad51 genes were searched in three tardigrades: Milnesium cf. tardigradum, Hypsibius dujardini and Macrobiotus cf. harmsworthi. The gene sequences were obtained by preparing and sequencing transcriptome libraries for H. dujardini and M. cf. harmsworthi and designing rad51 degenerate primers specific for M. cf. tardigradum. Comparison of Rad51 putative proteins from tardigrades with other organisms showed that they are highly similar to the corresponding sequence from the nematode Trichinella spiralis. A structure-based sequence alignment from tardigrades and other organisms revealed that putative Rad51 predicted proteins from tardigrades contain the expected motifs for these important recombinases. In a cladogram tree based on this alignment, tardigrades tend to cluster together suggesting that they have selective differences in these genes that make them diverge between species. Predicted Rad51 structures from tardigrades were also compared with crystalline structure of Rad51 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These results reveal that S. cerevisiae Rad51 structure is very similar to that of the three analysed tardigrades. On the other hand the predicted structure of Rad51 from M. cf. harmsworthi and H. dujardini are closer related to each other, than each of them to that of M. cf. tardigradum.
|
|
| 3. |
- Jönsson, Ingemar, 1959-, et al.
(författare)
-
Tolerance to gamma-irradiation in eggs of the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer depends on stage of development
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of limnology. - 1129-5767 .- 1723-8633. ; 72:s1, s. 73-79
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades are known as one of the most radiation tolerant animals on Earth, and several studies on tolerance in adult tardigrades have been published. In contrast, very few studies on radiation tolerance of embryonic stages have been reported. Here we report a study on tolerance to gamma irradiation in eggs of the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer. Irradiation of eggs collected directly from a natural substrate (moss) showed a clear dose-response, with a steep decline in hatchability at doses up to 0.4 kGy followed by a relatively constant hatchability around 25% up to 2 kGy, and a decline to ca. 5% at 4 kGy above which no eggs hatched. Analysis of the time required for eggs to hatch after irradiation (residual development time) showed that hatching of eggs after exposure to high doses of gamma radiation was associated with short residual development time. Since short residual development time means that the egg was irradiated at a late developmental stage, this suggests that eggs were more tolerant to radiation late in development. This was also confirmed in another experiment in which stage of development at irradiation was controlled. No eggs irradiated at the early developmental stage hatched, and only one egg at middle stage hatched, while eggs irradiated in the late stage hatched at a rate indistinguishable from controls. This suggests that the eggs are more sensitive to radiation in the early stages of development, or that tolerance to radiation is acquired only late in development, shortly before the eggs hatch, hypotheses that are not mutually exclusive. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering specific cell cycle phases and developmental stages in studies of tolerance to radiation in tardigrades, and the potential importance of embryonic studies in revealing the mechanisms behind the radiation tolerance of tardigrades and other cryptobiotic animals.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bernal, Ximena E., et al.
(författare)
-
Empowering Latina scientists
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 363:6429, s. 825-826
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 5. |
- Beltran-Pardo, Eliana A., et al.
(författare)
-
Sequence analysis of the DNA-repair gene rad51 in the tardigrades Milnesium cf. tardigradum, Hypsibius dujardini and Macrobiotus cf. harmsworthi
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of limnology. - : PAGEPress Publications. - 1129-5767 .- 1723-8633. ; 72, s. 80-91
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades are known for being resistant to extreme conditions, including tolerance to ionising and UV radiation in both the hydrated and the dehydrated state. It is known that these factors may cause damage to DNA. It has recently been shown that single and double DNA strand breaks occur when tardigrades are maintained for a long time in the anhydrobiotic state. This may suggest that perhaps tardigrades rely on efficient DNA repair mechanisms. Among all proteins that comprise the DNA repair system, recombinases such as RecA or Rad51 have a very important function: DNA exchange activity. This enzyme is used in the homologous recombination and allows repair of the damaged strand using homologous non-damaged strands as a template. In this study, Rad51 induction was evaluated by western blot in Milnesium cf. tardigradum, after exposure to gamma radiation. The Rad51 protein was highly induced by radiation, when compared to the control. The rad51 genes were searched in three tardigrades: Milnesium cf. tardigradum, Hypsibius dujardini and Macrobiotus cf. harmsworthi. The gene sequences were obtained by preparing and sequencing transcriptome libraries for H. dujardini and M. cf. harmsworthi and designing rad51 degenerate primers specific for M. cf. tardigradum. Comparison of Rad51 putative proteins from tardigrades with other organisms showed that they are highly similar to the corresponding sequence from the nematode Trichinella spiralis. A structure-based sequence alignment from tardigrades and other organisms revealed that putative Rad51 predicted proteins from tardigrades contain the expected motifs for these important recombinases. In a cladogram tree based on this alignment, tardigrades tend to cluster together suggesting that they have selective differences in these genes that make them diverge between species. Predicted Rad51 structures from tardigrades were also compared with crystalline structure of Rad51 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These results reveal that S. cerevisiae Rad51 structure is very similar to that of the three analysed tardigrades. On the other hand the predicted structure of Rad51 from M. cf. harmsworthi and H. dujardini are closer related to each other, than each of them to that of M. cf. tardigradum.
|
|
| 6. |
- Beltran-Pardo, Eliana, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of ionizing radiation on embryos of the tardigrade Milnesium cf. tardigradum at different stages of development
- 2013
-
Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 8:9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades represent one of the most desiccation and radiation tolerant animals on Earth, and several studies havedocumented their tolerance in the adult stage. Studies on tolerance during embryological stages are rare, but differentialeffects of desiccation and freezing on different developmental stages have been reported, as well as dose-dependent effectof gamma irradiation on tardigrade embryos. Here, we report a study evaluating the tolerance of eggs from theeutardigrade Milnesium cf. tardigradum to three doses of gamma radiation (50, 200 and 500 Gy) at the early, middle, andlate stage of development. We found that embryos of the middle and late developmental stages were tolerant to all doses,while eggs in the early developmental stage were tolerant only to a dose of 50 Gy, and showed a declining survival withhigher dose. We also observed a delay in development of irradiated eggs, suggesting that periods of DNA repair might havetaken place after irradiation induced damage. The delay was independent of dose for eggs irradiated in the middle and latestage, possibly indicating a fixed developmental schedule for repair after induced damage. These results show that thetolerance to radiation in tardigrade eggs changes in the course of their development. The mechanisms behind this patternare unknown, but may relate to changes in mitotic activities over the embryogenesis and/or to activation of responsemechanisms to damaged DNA in the course of development.
|
|
| 7. |
- Beltran-Pardo, Eliana, et al.
(författare)
-
Tolerance to Gamma Radiation in the Tardigrade Hypsibius dujardini from Embryo to Adult Correlate Inversely with Cellular Proliferation
- 2015
-
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades are highly tolerant to desiccation and ionizing radiation but the mechanisms of this tolerance are not well understood. In this paper, we report studies on dose responses of adults and eggs of the tardigrade Hypsibius dujardini exposed to gamma radiation. In adults the LD50/48h for survival was estimated at similar to 4200 Gy, and doses higher than 100 Gy reduced both fertility and hatchability of laid eggs drastically. We also evaluated the effect of radiation (doses 50 Gy, 200 Gy, 500 Gy) on eggs in the early and late embryonic stage of development, and observed a reduced hatchability in the early stage, while no effect was found in the late stage of development. Survival of juveniles from irradiated eggs was highly affected by a 500 Gy dose, both in the early and the late stage. Juveniles hatched from eggs irradiated at 50 Gy and 200 Gy developed into adults and produced offspring, but their fertility was reduced compared to the controls. Finally we measured the effect of low temperature during irradiation at 4000 Gy and 4500 Gy on survival in adult tardigrades, and observed a slight delay in the expressed mortality when tardigrades were irradiated on ice. Since H. dujardini is a freshwater tardigrade with lower tolerance to desiccation compared to limno-terrestrial tardigrades, the high radiation tolerance in adults, similar to limno-terrestrial tardigrades, is unexpected and seems to challenge the idea that desiccation and radiation tolerance rely on the same molecular mechanisms. We suggest that the higher radiation tolerance in adults and late stage embryos of H. dujardini (and in other studied tardigrades) compared to early stage embryos may partly be due to limited mitotic activity, since tardigrades have a low degree of somatic cell division (eutely), and dividing cells are known to be more sensitive to radiation.
|
|
| 8. |
- Jönsson, Ingemar, et al.
(författare)
-
Tolerance to gamma-irradiation in eggs of the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer depends on stage of development
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of limnology. - : PAGEPress Publications. - 1129-5767 .- 1723-8633. ; 72, s. 73-79
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tardigrades are known as one of the most radiation tolerant animals on Earth, and several studies on tolerance in adult tardigrades have been published. In contrast, very few studies on radiation tolerance of embryonic stages have been reported. Here we report a study on tolerance to gamma irradiation in eggs of the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer. Irradiation of eggs collected directly from a natural substrate (moss) showed a clear dose-response, with a steep decline in hatchability at doses up to 0.4 kGy followed by a relatively constant hatchability around 25% up to 2 kGy, and a decline to ca. 5% at 4 kGy above which no eggs hatched. Analysis of the time required for eggs to hatch after irradiation (residual development time) showed that hatching of eggs after exposure to high doses of gamma radiation was associated with short residual development time. Since short residual development time means that the egg was irradiated at a late developmental stage, this suggests that eggs were more tolerant to radiation late in development. This was also confirmed in another experiment in which stage of development at irradiation was controlled. No eggs irradiated at the early developmental stage hatched, and only one egg at middle stage hatched, while eggs irradiated in the late stage hatched at a rate indistinguishable from controls. This suggests that the eggs are more sensitive to radiation in the early stages of development, or that tolerance to radiation is acquired only late in development, shortly before the eggs hatch, hypotheses that are not mutually exclusive. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering specific cell cycle phases and developmental stages in studies of tolerance to radiation in tardigrades, and the potential importance of embryonic studies in revealing the mechanisms behind the radiation tolerance of tardigrades and other cryptobiotic animals.
|
|
