View source for User:Daniel Mietchen/Research/In Vivo Assessment of Cold Adaptation in Insect Larvae by Magnetic resonance imaging and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

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Authors: [[User:AuthorID_of_Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]], [[User:AuthorID_of_Bertram Manz|Bertram Manz]], [[User:AuthorID_of_Frank Volke|Frank Volke]], [[User:AuthorID_of_Kenneth B. Storey|Kenneth Storey]] 

==Abstract==

===Background===

Temperatures below the [[melting point]] of [[water]] and the ensuing [[ice crystal formation]] pose serious challenges to [[cell structure]] and [[cell function|function]]. Consequently, [[species (biology)|species]] living in [[seasonally cold environment]]s have [[evolution (biology)|evolved]] a multitude of strategies to reorganize their [[cellular architecture]] and [[cell metabolism|metabolism]], and the underlying mechanisms are crucial to our understanding of [[life (biology)|life]]. In [[multicellular organism]]s, and [[poikilotherm animal]]s in particular, our knowledge about these processes is almost exclusively due to [[invasive study|invasive studies]], thereby limiting the range of conclusions that can be drawn about intact living systems.

===Methodology===

Given that non-destructive techniques like [[Hydrogen|<sup>1</sup>H]] [[Nuclear magnetic resonance|MR]] [[Magnetic resonance imaging|imaging]] and [[NMR spectroscopy|spectroscopy]] exhibit an enormous signal loss upon freezing and a corresponding signal increase upon thawing and have proven useful for [[in vivo]] investigations of a wide range of biological systems, we aimed at evaluating their potential to observe [[cold adaptation]]s in living [[insect larva]]e. Specifically, we chose two [[cold hardiness|cold-hardy]] insect species that frequently serve as cryobiological [[model organism|model system]]s and share the same habitat (stem galls on [[goldenrod]] plants, genus [[Solidago]]) but use different overwintering strategies–the [[freeze avoidance|freeze-avoiding]] [[gall moth]] [[Epiblema scudderiana]] and the [[freeze tolerance|freeze-tolerant]] [[gall fly]] [[Eurosta solidaginis]].

[[CHESS imaging]] has previously been used to investigate insect larval development in a non-cryobiological context, and technological developments in the MR field have recently seen in vivo spatial resolution in non-frozen samples reach the size range relevant for entomological and subcellular investigations.
The present study combined these two fields of investigation by demonstrating the feasibility of high-resolution MR imaging of insect larvae in a cryobiological context.

===Results===

In vivo MR images were acquired from autumn-collected larvae at temperatures between 0°C and about −70°C and at [[spatial resolution]]s down to 27 µm. These images revealed three-dimensional (3D) larval anatomy at a level of detail currently not in reach of other in vivo techniques. Furthermore, they allowed visualization of the 3D distribution of the remaining [[liquid water]] and of the [[endogenous cryoprotectant]]s at subzero temperatures, and [[Temperature-weighted imaging|temperature-weighted images]] of these distributions could be derived. Finally, individual [[fat body (insects)|fat body]] cells and their [[nucleus (cell)|nuclei]] could be identified in intact frozen Eurosta larvae.

===Conclusions===

These findings suggest that high resolution MR techniques provide for interesting methodological options in [[comparative biology|comparative]] cryobiological investigations, especially in vivo.


'''Citation:''' Mietchen D, Manz B, Volke F, Storey K (2008) [http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003826 In Vivo Assessment of Cold Adaptation in Insect Larvae by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy]. PLoS ONE 3(12): e3826. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003826 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003826].
'''Editor:''' [[User:AuthorID_of_Brent Sinclair|Brent Sinclair]] 

'''Funding:''' The study was supported by an [http://www.ibmt.fraunhofer.de IBMT]-internal grant.
'''Competing interests:''' The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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