¿Qué hace que esta criatura sea casi invencible? Los biólogos han adquirido una nueva perspectiva

Los tardígrados, también conocidos como osos de agua, se originaron hace más de 500 millones de años.

Los investigadores están mejorando su comprensión de la resiliencia de los tardígrados.

Investigadores en: Universidad de Wyoming han aprendido más sobre los procesos biológicos que permiten a las diminutas criaturas, conocidas como tardígrados, soportar duras condiciones, como estar completamente secos en animación suspendida durante años.

El profesor de biología molecular Thomas Boothby y sus colegas descubrieron cómo la trehalosa, un azúcar, interactúa con las proteínas para permitir que los tardígrados sobrevivan en ausencia de agua. Sus hallazgos fueron publicados recientemente en la revista biología de la comunicación.

Los tardígrados, a menudo conocidos como osos de agua, miden menos de medio milímetro de largo y pueden tolerar la desecación completa, congelándose hasta la parte superior.[{» attribute=»»>absolute zero (approximately minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit, when all molecular motion ceases), heated to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit, irradiated several thousand times beyond what a person can withstand, and even survive the vacuum of outer space.

Tardigrades’ ability to survive being dried out has perplexed scientists since it seems to vary from that of a number of other species that can enter suspended animation. Previously, scientists believed tardigrades did not produce trehalose to survive drying out, but Boothby and his colleagues discovered that they do, although at lower levels than other organisms.

The researchers also found that, in tardigrades, trehalose works synergistically with another tardigrade-specific protein called CAHS D.

Ultimately, Boothby and other researchers hope that their discoveries can be applied to help solve societal and global health issues — in this case, water scarcity. Their work might lead to better ways of stabilizing pharmaceuticals and generating engineered crops that can cope with harsh environments.

“A long-term goal of this field is to understand better how to confer the adaptation abilities of tardigrades to organisms that do not naturally survive drying,” Boothby says. “This study and its findings provide a compelling argument that to do so may require the combination of different, synergistic protectants.”

Reference: “Trehalose and tardigrade CAHS proteins work synergistically to promote desiccation tolerance” by Kenny Nguyen, Shraddha KC, Tyler Gonzalez, Hugo Tapia, and Thomas C. Boothby, 1 October 2022, Communications Biology.
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04015-2

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Institutes of Health.