Abstract
Tardigrades have fascinated researchers for more than 300 years because of their extraordinary capability to undergo cryptobiosis and survive extreme environmental conditions. However, the survival mechanisms of tardigrades are still poorly understood mainly due to the absence of detailed knowledge about the proteome and genome of these organisms. Our study was intended to provide a basis for the functional characterization of expressed proteins in different states of tardigrades. High-throughput, high-accuracy proteomics in combination with a newly developed tardigrade specific protein database resulted in the identification of more than 3000 proteins in three different states: early embryonic state and adult animals in active and anhydrobiotic state. This comprehensive proteome resource includes protein families such as chaperones, antioxidants, ribosomal proteins, cytoskeletal proteins, transporters, protein channels, nutrient reservoirs, and developmental proteins. A comparative analysis of protein families in the different states was performed by calculating the exponentially modified protein abundance index which classifies proteins in major and minor components. This is the first step to analyzing the proteins involved in early embryonic development, and furthermore proteins which might play an important role in the transition into the anhydrobiotic state.
Highlights
Tardigrades are small invertebrates with a body length of 0.1– 1.0 mm
Using a newly established EST database based on 454 sequencing, we present in this study a comprehensive comparative analysis of the proteome of tardigrades in three different states: early embryonic state (EES), adult tardigrades in active (AS) and anhydrobiotic state (TS)
We investigated the proteome of M. tardigradum in early embryonic state (EES) and of adult animals in active (AS) and tun state (TS) (Figure 1)
Summary
Tardigrades are small invertebrates with a body length of 0.1– 1.0 mm. Milnesium tardigradum Doyere (1840) belongs to the species of carnivorous tardigrades and is analyzed regarding different aspects of its life history [1,2]. There are two known strategies to cope with water deficiency: ‘‘desiccation-avoidance strategy’’ and ‘‘desiccation-tolerance strategy’’ [11]. The term ‘‘desiccation-avoidance strategy’’ describes physiological and morphological adaptations to reduce water loss. For example the African lungfish build a waterproof cocoon to prevent the overdehydration [11]. ‘‘Desiccation-tolerance strategy’’ is used for withstanding the dehydrated state. The best example is anhydrobiosis, when the metabolic activity is reversibly at a standstill. Thereby, tardigrades contract their legs and build the so-called tun [12], in which they are resistance to extreme environmental conditions
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