Presence of thermal hysteresis producing antifreeze proteins in the antarctic mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus

Abstract

AbstractThe presence of hemolymph thermal hysteresis antifreeze proteins is described in both the nymphs and adults of the Antarctic oribatid mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus collected from Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands. These proteins, functionally similar to the antifreeze proteins of polar marine fish and certain cold‐tolerant insects, lower the freezing point of water by a noncolligative mechanism while not significantly affecting the melting point, thus producing their characteristic thermal hysteresis. This is the first finding of these proteins in mites and the first description of them in an arthropod from the southern hemisphere.