11-5-2018 Toxopeus
Channel: UCD Integrative Bio Grad Student Seminar
Date: 2018-11-06

CU Denver Department of Integrative Biology Graduate Student Seminar Series talk by Dr. Jantina Toxopeus

TITLE:  Life in the frozen lane: Mechanisms underlying freeze tolerance in the spring field cricket

ABSTRACT: A small number of animals can survive internal ice formation, but how they do so is poorly understood. By studying species that withstand extremes, we can expand our general knowledge of cellular and organismal function in both benign and extreme environments. Using a promising new laboratory model (the spring field cricket, Gryllus veletis), I investigated the mechanisms underlying freeze tolerance during my Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario (Canada), using both descriptive and manipulative approaches. Freeze tolerance in these crickets was associated with increased control of the temperature and location of ice formation, accumulation of small cryoprotectant molecules, and differential expression of more than 3,000 putative genes. By manipulating cryoprotectant concentration in vivo, I showed that each cryoprotectant functioned in freeze tolerance, but likely via different mechanisms. I also developed an RNA interference protocol to knock down gene expression, and will discuss its application to future research. This work paves the way for increased understanding of life at the (frozen) limits, and the factors that impact overwintering success in a changing climate.