Figure 1: Desiccation tolerance and phylogeny of two chironomid species. | Nature Communications

Figure 1: Desiccation tolerance and phylogeny of two chironomid species.

From: Comparative genome sequencing reveals genomic signature of extreme desiccation tolerance in the anhydrobiotic midge

Figure 1

(a) Adult male of the sleeping chironomid, P. vanderplanki (left), and anhydrobiotic cycle of the larvae (right). During the dry season, larvae desiccate slowly to reach an ametabolic, quiescent state, termed anhydrobiosis. On rehydration, dried larvae rapidly recover normal activity. (b) Adult male of the congeneric chironomid, P. nubifer (left). P. nubifer larvae can survive mild desiccation for 24 h like other chironomids, but they cannot enter anhydrobiosis and are killed by severe dehydration (right). Scale bar, 2 mm. (c) Phylogenetic tree inferred from the amino-acid sequence of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) showing the relationship between P. vanderplanki, P. nubifer and other Diptera. The scale shows the evolutionary distance between species in million years (MYA).

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