Faculty
Science
Supervisor Name
Dr. Brent J. Sinclair
Keywords
Insect freeze tolerance, low temperature biology, Gryllus veletis, oxidative stress
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Description
Gryllus Veletis is a freeze tolerant cricket which means that it can survive internal ice formation. We tested the hypothesis that freeze tolerant crickets alter the gene expression of antioxidants in response to freezing and thawing since it is thought to cause oxidative stress. We used RT-qPCR to measure the mRNA abundance of the transcription factor Nrf2 and the three superoxide dismutases in the Malpighian tubules of G. Veletis. We also tested the hypothesis that oxidative stress occurs during thawing using oxidative damage detection assays. This study will expand our knowledge of the oxidative stress and antioxidant environment of insect freeze tolerance.
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Brent Sinclair and the Western USRI program. I also want to thank Stefane Saruhashi for letting me work with her this summer. I would like to thank Lamees Mohammad and Kaitlyn Ludba for helping me throughout my internship. Finally, thank you Caitlin Oh for working on this project with me.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Document Type
Video
The freezing and thawing of Gryllus veletis
Gryllus Veletis is a freeze tolerant cricket which means that it can survive internal ice formation. We tested the hypothesis that freeze tolerant crickets alter the gene expression of antioxidants in response to freezing and thawing since it is thought to cause oxidative stress. We used RT-qPCR to measure the mRNA abundance of the transcription factor Nrf2 and the three superoxide dismutases in the Malpighian tubules of G. Veletis. We also tested the hypothesis that oxidative stress occurs during thawing using oxidative damage detection assays. This study will expand our knowledge of the oxidative stress and antioxidant environment of insect freeze tolerance.