Data di Pubblicazione:
2006
Citazione:
Starve and survive: stress tolerance and life-history traits of a bdelloid rotifer / C. Ricci, F. Perletti. - In: FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY. - ISSN 0269-8463. - 20:2(2006), pp. 340-346.
Abstract:
1.
Bdelloid rotifers occur in unstable habitats, such as moss, lichens and temporary
pools, where conditions change unpredictably and dramatically. Their ability to survive
in such habitats could be related to their physiological ability to enter metabolic stasis
in response to severe environmental stress. We tested the response of a bdelloid species
(
Macrotrachela quadricornifera
Milne, 1886) to prolonged starvation by evaluating survival
and fecundity once food was resupplied on a regular basis.
2.
Animals were starved for different durations (20, 40, 60 days) and all survivors
resumed reproduction. Life-history parameters of the 20-day starvation group subsequent
to the resumption of normal feeding were studied.
3.
From resumption of normal feeding, mean longevity and age-specific traits of
starved rotifers were the same as those of the fed rotifers. No reduction of lifetime
fecundity was found in the bdelloids that experienced starvation, suggesting a time
shift of the effective ‘age’ of the starved rotifers.
4.
The response of the rotifer to starvation is similar to that induced by drought. The
presence of a previously undocumented form of dormancy is hypothesized.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
Dormancy, food, life-history schedule, recovery, reproduction
Elenco autori:
C. Ricci, F. Perletti
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