Concentration of sodium and free amino acids in the haemolymph and other fluid compartments in an adephagous and a polyphagous species of beetle

The freeze-avoiding mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) survives prolonged exposure to stressful cold by mitigating ionoregulatory collapse

Insect performance is linked to environmental temperature, and surviving through winter represents a key challenge for temperate, alpine and polar species. To overwinter, insects have adapted a range of strategies to become truly cold hardy. However, although the mechanisms underlying the ability to avoid or tolerate freezing have been well studied, little attention has been given to the challenge of maintaining ion homeostasis at frigid temperatures in these species, despite this limiting cold tolerance for insects susceptible to mild chilling. Here, we investigated how prolonged exposure to temperatures just above the supercooling point affects ion balance in freeze-avoidant mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) larvae in autumn, mid-winter and spring, and related it to organismal recovery times and survival. Hemolymph ion balance was gradually disrupted during the first day of exposure, characterized by hyperkalemia and hyponatremia, after which a plateau was reached and maintained for the rest of the 7-day experiment. The degree of ionoregulatory collapse correlated strongly with recovery times, which followed a similar asymptotical progression. Mortality increased slightly during extensive cold exposures, where hemolymph K+ concentration was highest, and a sigmoidal relationship was found between survival and hyperkalemia. Thus, the cold tolerance of the freeze-avoiding larvae of D. ponderosae appears limited by the ability to prevent ionoregulatory collapse in a manner similar to that of chill-susceptible insects, albeit at much lower temperatures. Based on these results, we propose that a prerequisite for the evolution of insect freeze avoidance may be a convergent or ancestral ability to maintain ion homeostasis during extreme cold stress.

Chilling-injury and disturbance of ion homeostasis in the coxal muscle of the tropical cockroach (Nauphoeta cinerea)

Adults of warm- and cold-acclimated tropical cockroaches, Nauphoeta cinerea were exposed to low temperatures of 0 or 5 degrees C for various time intervals (hours to days). Development of chilling-injury (defects in crawling and uncoordinated movements) and mortality during the exposure were assessed and correlated with the changes in concentrations of metal ions (Na(+), K(+) and Mg(2+)) in the haemolymph and coxal muscle tissue. Warm-acclimated insects entered chill-coma at both low temperatures. In their haemolymph, the [Na(+)] and [Mg(2+)] linearly decreased and [K(+)] increased with the increasing time of exposure. The rate of concentration changes was higher at 0 than at 5 degrees C. The concentration changes resulted in gradually dissipating equilibrium potentials across the muscle cell membranes. For instance, E(K) decreased from -49.8 to -20.7 mV during 7 days at 5 degrees C. Such a disturbance of ion homeostasis was paralleled by the gradual development of chilling-injury and mortality. Most of the cockroaches showed chilling-injury when the molar ratio of [Na(+)]/[K(+)] in their haemolymph decreased from an initial of 4.4 to 2.1-2.5. In contrast, the cold-acclimated cockroaches did not enter chill-coma. They maintained constant concentrations of ions in their haemolymph, constant equilibrium potentials across muscle cell membranes and the development of chilling-injury was significantly suppressed at 5 degrees C for 7 days.

Inorganic ions in cold-hardiness

Cold exposure and freezing may affect ion distribution in several ways and reduce physiologically important ionic gradients. Both freeze-avoiding and freeze-tolerant organisms have developed mechanisms to handle this stress. Supercooled insects seem to be able to maintain their ionic gradients even at temperatures far below zero. When freeze-tolerant insects freeze, ions diffuse down their concentration gradients across the cell membranes and reach electrochemical equilibrium. They quickly reverse this transmembrane diffusion when they are thawed. Trace metals may affect mechanisms for cold-hardening in different ways and reduce cold-hardiness. Freezing may give rise to toxic concentrations of metal ions, and freeze-tolerant organisms probably need to inactivate toxic trace metals. Ice nucleating agents may be important in this context.

On the nature of pre-freeze mortality in insects: water balance, ion homeostasis and energy charge in the adults of Pyrrhocoris apterus

Three acclimation groups [i.e. non-diapause (LD), diapause (SD) and diapause, cold-acclimated (SDA)] of the adult bugs Pyrrhocoris apterus differed markedly in their levels of chill tolerance. Survival time at a sub-zero, but non-freezing, temperature of -5 degrees C (Lt50) extended from 7.6 days, through 35.6 days, to >60 days in the LD, SD and SDA insects, respectively. The time necessary for recovery after chill-coma increased linearly with the increasing time of exposure to -5 degrees C, and the steepness of the slope of linear regression decreased in the order LD>SD>SDA. The capacity to prevent/counteract leakage of Na(+) down the electrochemical gradient (from haemolymph to tissues) during the exposure to -5 degrees C increased in the order LD<SD<SDA. As a result, the rates of counteractive outward movement of K(+), and of the E(K) dissipation, decreased in the same order. The least chill-tolerant insects (LD) showed the highest rate of body-water loss. Most of the water was lost from the haemolymph compartment. The ability to regulate a certain fraction of ion pools into the hindgut fluid was the highest in the SDA group, medium in the SD group and missing in the LD group. The adenylate energy charge in the fat body cells was constant in all three groups. The total pools of ATP, ADP and AMP, however, decreased in the SD and SDA groups but remained constant in the LD group. The inability of insects to maintain ion gradients at sub-zero temperature is discussed as an important cause of pre-freeze mortality.

Sodium regulation during dehydration of a herbivorous and a carnivorous beetle from African dry savannah

The sodium regulation of carnivorous carabid beetles of the genus Cypholoba and herbivorous tenebrionid beetles of the species Phrynocolus petrosus from dry savannah in East Africa was investigated while the beetles went through dehydration in the laboratory. In both species the water loss took place mainly at the expense of the extracellular fluid, and in both species the loss of extracellular water was accompanied by a loss of extracellular sodium. In the carabid beetles the sodium removed from the extracellular fluid was excreted from the body, while in the tenebrionids sodium was kept within the body. It is proposed that the different manners in which the two species handle their sodium reflect differences in their access to dietary water and sodium.

Effect of freezing on the transmembrane distribution of ions in freeze-tolerant larvae of the wood fly Xylophagus cinctus (Diptera, Xylophagidae)

The present study shows that freezing of freeze-tolerant larvae of the wood fly Xylophagus cinctus caused Na(+), K(+) and Mg(++) to move to electrochemical equilibrium across the cell membranes. Na(+) and Mg(++) moved from the haemolymph into the cells, while K(+) moved the opposite way. The original distribution of ions was restored after the larvae were thawed. The transmembrane fluxes of ions were of the same magnitude in the frozen and thawed larvae. The redistribution of ions in the frozen larvae did not give rise to any apparent change in the volume of cells and haemolymph upon thawing, i.e. the redistribution of solutes appeared to be osmotically neutral.