Survival Strategies in Extreme Cold and Desiccation: Adaptation Mechanisms and Their Applications (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 1081)

"This book comprehensively describes biological phenomena, adaptation mechanisms, and strategies of living organisms to survive under extremely cold or desiccated conditions at molecular, cellular, and organ levels. It also provides tremendous potential for applications of the findings to a wide variety of industries. The volume consists of three parts: Part 1, Adaptation Mechanisms of Cold, and Part 2, Adaptation Mechanisms of Desiccation, collect up-to-date research on mechanisms and strategies of living organisms such as sleeping chironomids, polar marine fishes, hibernating mammals, bryophytes, dormant seeds, and boreal plants to survive under extreme cold and desiccated conditions at molecular, cellular, and organ levels. Part 3, Application Technologies from Laboratory to Society, covers various applications to a wide variety of industries such as the medical, food, and agricultural and life science industries. For example, biological knowledge of how plants and animals survive under cold, drought, and desiccated conditions may provide a hint on how we can improve crop production in a very fragile environment in global climate change. Unique molecules that protect cells during desiccation and freezing such as trehalose and antifreeze protein (AFP) have potential for use to preserve cells, tissues, and organs for the long term under very stable conditions. In addition, the current progress of supercooling technology of cells may lead us to solve problems of cellular high sensitivity to freezing injury, which will dramatically improve the usability of these cells. Furthermore, knowledge of water substitution and glass formation as major mechanisms for formulation designs and new drying technologies will contribute to the development of food preservation and drug delivery systems under dry conditions. Written by contributors who have been conducting cutting-edge science in related fields, this title is recommended to a wide variety of readers who are interested in learning from such organisms their strategies, mechanisms, and applications, and it will inspire researchers in various disciplines"--Publisher's description Front Matter ....Pages i-x Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Gene Regulatory Networks Mediating Cold Acclimation: The CBF Pathway (Javier Barrero-Gil, Julio Salinas)....Pages 3-22 RNA Regulation in Plant Cold Stress Response (Kentaro Nakaminami, Motoaki Seki)....Pages 23-44 The Mechanism Enabling Hibernation in Mammals (Yuuki Horii, Takahiko Shiina, Yasutake Shimizu)....Pages 45-60 Freezing Tolerance of Plant Cells: From the Aspect of Plasma Membrane and Microdomain (Daisuke Takahashi, Matsuo Uemura, Yukio Kawamura)....Pages 61-79 Natural Variation in Freezing Tolerance and Cold Acclimation Response in Arabidopsis thaliana and Related Species (Ellen Zuther, Yang Ping Lee, Alexander Erban, Joachim Kopka, Dirk K. Hincha)....Pages 81-98 Ice Nucleation Activity in Plants: The Distribution, Characterization, and Their Roles in Cold Hardiness Mechanisms (Masaya Ishikawa, Hideyuki Yamazaki, Tadashi Kishimoto, Hiroki Murakawa, Timothy Stait-Gardner, Kazuyuki Kuchitsu et al.)....Pages 99-115 Investigating Freezing Patterns in Plants Using Infrared Thermography (David P. Livingston III)....Pages 117-127 Mechanism of Overwintering in Trees (Keita Arakawa, Jun Kasuga, Naoki Takata)....Pages 129-147 The Mechanism of Low-Temperature Tolerance in Fish (Kiyoshi Soyano, Yuji Mushirobira)....Pages 149-164 Front Matter ....Pages 165-165 Mechanisms Underlying Freezing and Desiccation Tolerance in Bryophytes (Daisuke Takezawa)....Pages 167-187 Regulatory Gene Networks in Drought Stress Responses and Resistance in Plants (Fuminori Takahashi, Takashi Kuromori, Hikaru Sato, Kazuo Shinozaki)....Pages 189-214 Mechanism of Stomatal Closure in Plants Exposed to Drought and Cold Stress (Srinivas Agurla, Shashibhushan Gahir, Shintaro Munemasa, Yoshiyuki Murata, Agepati S. Raghavendra)....Pages 215-232 Mechanisms of Maturation and Germination in Crop Seeds Exposed to Environmental Stresses with a Focus on Nutrients, Water Status, and Reactive Oxygen Species (Yushi Ishibashi, Takashi Yuasa, Mari Iwaya-Inoue)....Pages 233-257 The Antioxidant System in the Anhydrobiotic Midge as an Essential, Adaptive Mechanism for Desiccation Survival (Alexander Nesmelov, Richard Cornette, Oleg Gusev, Takahiro Kikawada)....Pages 259-270 Physicochemical Aspects of the Biological Functions of Trehalose and Group 3 LEA Proteins as Desiccation Protectants (Takao Furuki, Minoru Sakurai)....Pages 271-286 Front Matter ....Pages 287-287 Supercooling-Promoting (Anti-ice Nucleation) Substances (Seizo Fujikawa, Chikako Kuwabara, Jun Kasuga, Keita Arakawa)....Pages 289-320 Applications of Antifreeze Proteins: Practical Use of the Quality Products from Japanese Fishes (Sheikh Mahatabuddin, Sakae Tsuda)....Pages 321-337 Development and Application of Cryoprotectants (Robin Rajan, Kazuaki Matsumura)....Pages 339-354 Cryopreservation of Plant Genetic Resources (Daisuke Tanaka, Takao Niino, Matsuo Uemura)....Pages 355-369 Applications of Freezing and Freeze-Drying in Pharmaceutical Formulations (Ken-ichi Izutsu)....Pages 371-383 Control of Physical Changes in Food Products (Kiyoshi Kawai, Tomoaki Hagiwara)....Pages 385-399 Back Matter ....Pages 401-409