Antarctic midge 1st reported organism using both quiescence and obligate diapause in multiple overwintering.
Antarctic midge 1st reported organism using both quiescence and obligate diapause in multiple overwintering.
Picture an Antarctic animal and most people think of penguins, but there is a flightless midge, the only known insect native to Antarctica, that somehow survives the extreme climate. How the Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica) copes with freezing temperatures could hold clues for humans about subjects like cryopreservation, but there remain many mysteries about the tiny insect.
One mystery appears to have been solved by an Osaka Metropolitan University-led international research team. Graduate School of Science Professor Shin G. Goto and Dr. Mizuki Yoshida, a graduate student at the time of the research who is now a postdoc at Ohio State University, found that the midge deals with the seasons during its two-year life cycle by undergoing quiescence in its first year and obligate diapause in its second.
Quiescence is a form of dormancy in immediate response to adverse conditions, and when conditions improve, the organism becomes active again. Obligate diapause is a dormant period naturally induced at a fixed time in an organism’s life cycle, a rare form seen in insects in temperate regions.
Read more at Osaka Metropolitan University
Image: The Antarctic midge is the only known insect native to Antarctica. (Credit: Yuta Shimizu / Osaka Metropolitan University)
