Changes in Temperature Aspect in Adaptation Ectotherms Research Example

Introduction

Insects have colonised all terrestrial ecosystems in which they experience various environmental conditions over time. This exposes them to extreme high and low temperatures over the duration of time. This comes as result of variations of temperature changes with the prevailing weather conditions. This has enabled them to respond to various stimuli and for this reason; they have adaptations on different localities. Temperature fluctuations affect the seasonal temperatures and thus seasonal changes. It plays a primary role in delineating latitudinal variations in insects' processes. This has created a variety of insects like ectotherms, which regulate their internal body temperatures always suffer a lot by these conditions. There exist other insects that are tolerant of extreme conditions without changing forms; they develop such mechanisms to allow them to survive to maturity. These are insects, which can sustain internal body fluids without freezing.

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At supercooling temperatures, an insect's body spontaneously freezes, and insects which have tolerance to cooler temperatures release a fluid known as hemolymph which lowers their body's freezing point. Insects such as acorn weevil can independently survive in the arctic, alpine and Antarctic regions of the world without experiencing dehydration in any way during winter. For insects to survive from internal ice formation, freeze tolerant insects must mitigate cellular dehydration, mechanical breakage, and anoxia and reduced metabolic activities while maintaining physiological processes in the body. During inoculation, freezing and ice formation is initiated by the contact of external ice with the internal body fluids. Furthermore, there is injury due to freezing which mostly occurs at the level of the cell, embryo, and even the whole organism. There also exists a concentration gradient whereby cell walls of organisms become flaccid or, at times, expand and finally burst through a process of haemolysis. Most insects from the tropics are not tolerant to extremely low temperatures but tolerate higher temperatures whereas those from alpine regions can only tolerate extreme cold temperatures while they cannot stand higher temperatures.

Rapid Cold Hardening(RCH)

Insects can enhance cold tolerance on a short period in a process called Rapid cold hardening (RCH). The process helps the insects to increase their capability of cold tolerance almost immediately, within minutes or hours to keep up with the regularly-occurring diurnal drops in temperature and sudden cold breaks. Biochemical and physiological mechanisms of rapid cold hardening include an increase in polyols production, haemolymph osmolalities, cold-induced proteins, proline and fast changes in the phospholipid composition.

Methods (1 - 2.5 pgs): points for being brief, yet complete. I should be able to replicate what you have done based on your methods alone, provided I have some prior experience with the techniques used. Use as active of a voice as possible, but avoid first, the second person and remember, methods are what you have done so they should be presented in the past tense.

Methods

Storing the Crickets:

The crickets were stored in three, separate, containers with air holes placed in the lids. Each container held six crickets, egg crates, a petri dish with a paper towel dampened with distilled water, and a petri dish to hold the food. The containers were labelled for the food content in each, either zero percent vegetable oil, ten percent vegetable oil, and twenty percent vegetable oil. The paper towels were dampened every day and the food replaced when it became too dry. In between each treatment session, the containers were cleaned to get rid of any waste or dust accumulation.

Making the Food:

The base for the cricket's diet was Drosophila food. The food was heated to a liquid state by using a microwave for two minute long periods, taking care not to cause the food to bubble out of the container. Next, the liquid food was poured into a tared petri dish, sitting on a scale, until twenty-six grams was poured out. Following this, 2.6 grams of vegetable oil was added to account for ten percent of the weight of the food. Both were mixed with a whisk to ensure complete mixing. The same process was followed for the twenty percent vegetable oil food as well. The zero percent vegetable oil food was only the Drosophila food and nothing else. After the mixing was complete, the lids were placed on the Petri dishes and all three were stored in a refrigerator to allow the food to solidify.

Setting a Baseline Cold Tolerance:

Prior to placing the crickets on the enhanced diet, a baseline cold tolerance was established. This was accomplished by designating six crickets a room temperature control group, six as a four-degree Celsius group, and six more crickets as a cold shock group and stored at room temperature. The six crickets designated as the cold shock group were placed in a refrigerated circulating cold bath machine for one hour. The temperature was set at zero degrees Celsius. After the hour, the number of surviving crickets was recorded. For the four degrees group, the group was placed in a refrigerator set for four degrees Celsius for one hour. After the hour, the number of surviving crickets was recorded. The ones who survived after the hour at four degrees Celsius were then placed into the cold bath for an additional one hour at zero degrees Celsius. This was to achieve a baseline for rapid cold hardening, and the number of survivors was recorded. In the end, a baseline cold tolerance temperature was set at zero degrees Celsius.

Carrying out the Trials:

Materials:

• Refrigerated Circulating Cold Water Bath
• Containers for keeping Crickets (egg-crates)
• Closeable test tubes
• Styrofoam float for tubes
• Vegetable oil
• Crickets
• Food for crickets (Drosophila food)

Results and Discussion (1.5 - 3 pages): For the love of the few things that remain right and decent in the world today, please combine the two sections. Provide images, graphs to support your points. As in earlier lab exercises, provide complete figure legends for each figure and refer to the figures in the text like this (Fig. 1). ss the parenthetic "Fig. 1" is the example.

Figure Legends: Must be concise. This can be challenging as they must provide sufficient information about what was done to allow the figure to stand on its own; the reader shouldn't need to look up the methods to understand the figure.

The text presentation of results may be intermingled with the interpretation of the results and an evaluation of how the results agree with/contradict what has come before. Students must show that they understand the process they have studied, how it relates to what has come before. Citing every statement that isn't common knowledge with primary literature is essential and required.

Discussion:

Multiple studies have been carried out to check the physiological state of freeze tolerance of insects. We examined the effect of lipid diet on cold tolerance in cricket.

DATA

The treatments included statuses after one hour at room temperature, 4 degrees Celsius, a one-hour cold shock water bath at 0.0 degrees Celsius, and rapid cold hardening (RCH) where the crickets were taken from 4 degrees Celsius to a cold-water bath at 0.0 degrees Celsius for an hour each. The crickets had been on the experimental diet for zero days before these treatments.

Results

No insect died.

Discussion

The insects relied entirely on their technique of Rapid Cold Hardening(RCH) to secure their lives. The method allowed the insects to acclimate their thermal heat to help them fine-tune their physiological state to more rapid changes in their body.

Results

At 00C

• No insect died.
• All cold-water baths had the same outcome-all insects survived.

At -30C

• Both cold water with no oil and with 10% oil, had none of their insects die.
• Cold-water bath with 20% oil was added 800C of the insects died.

At -60C

• Cold water without oil, 80% of the insects died.
• Cold-water bath with 10% oil, 40% of the insects died.
• Cold-water bath with 20% oil, 80% of the insects died.

Discussion

At 0 0C insects experience a favourable temperature for survival. While at -3 0C some of the insects died due to lack of enough oxygen. At -6 0C the insects were faced with discriminative temperature thus causing an intense situation leading to an average of about 30% survival rate.

Results

At 00C

• No insect died.
• All cold-water baths had the same outcome-all insects survived.

At -30C

• Cold-water bath with no oil, 20% of insects died.
• Cold-water bath with 10% oil, no insect died.
• Cold-water bath with 20% oil, 800C of the insects died.

At -60C

• Cold water without oil froze.
• Cold-water bath with 10% oil, 40% of the insects died.
• Cold-water bath with 20% oil, 20% of the insects died.

Discussion

At 0 0C the insects apply their normal technique of RCH. At -3 0C, due to the low exhibited temperatures, there was only 50% survival chance for the insects. At -6 0C natural cold-water froze, and there was 70% chance of survival on the insects.

Conclusion

The capability to rapidly respond to changes in temperature is a significant aspect and adaptation ectotherms living in varying temperature environments. In the experiment above, it shows clearly that insects critically enhance cold tolerance in a short period of exposure to nonlethal chilling. So, Rapid Cold Hardening (RCH) can be evoked by suggesting independent signalling mechanisms direct cold-sensing, isolated tissues ex vivo and downstream hardening pathways.

References

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Bailey, E., Stacey Penney, F., Medicine, N., Medicine, N., Comana, F., &Lecovin, G. et al. (2018). Winter Sports and Cold Temperature Nutrition. NASM Blog. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from http://blog.nasm.org/nutrition/winter-sports-and-cold-temperature-nutrition/

Cold weather kills more people than hot weather. (2008). Physics Today. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/pt.5.028899

EFFECTS OF COLD WEATHER, WINTER OF 1917-18, ON VEGETATION. (1918). Monthly Weather Review, 46(12), 580-580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1918)46<580:eocwwo>2.0.co;2