Tardigrades, Thousand Environments to Survive
Abstract
The Tardigrade is a small invertebrate with sizes ranging from 100 to 1200 μm (Neves et al. 2020) and it has been used in different space missions with astrobiological interest (Rebecchi et al. 2009). This is because it is a polyextremophilic organism, since it can survive in different environments in its cryptobiosis state, triggered by external physical parameters to which it is exposed: lack of oxygen, low water availability, high and low temperatures, pressure changes, exposure to radiation, high concentration of salts, etc. Cryptobiosis involves different metabolic mechanisms for proteins, sugars, etc., which allow it to enter a state of dormancy for long periods (Neves et al. 2020; Guil et al. 2018). In this work we examine the different environments in which tardigrades live.
- Publication:
-
Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica Conference Series
- Pub Date:
- February 2023
- DOI:
- 10.22201/ia.14052059p.2023.55.60
- Bibcode:
- 2023RMxAC..55..124R
- Keywords:
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- tardigrades;
- space missions;
- Enceladus;
- cryptobiosis