Defining the viability of tardigrades with a molecular sensor related to death

PLoS One. 2018 Oct 26;13(10):e0206444. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206444. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The design of experimental protocols that use animal models to assess the impact of a stress on a population or to determine the life span expectancy impact can be time-consuming due to the need for direct observations of dead and living animals. These experiments are usually based on the detectable activity of animals such as food intake or mobility and can sometimes produce either under- or overestimated results. The tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris is an emerging model for the evolutionary biology of the tardigrade phylum because of its convenient laboratory breeding and the recent introduction of new molecular tools. In this report, we describe the use of a new fluorescent dye that can specifically stain dead tardigrades. Furthermore, we also monitored the absence of a toxic side effect of the death-linked fluorescent dye on tardigrade populations. Finally, we conclude that tardigrade experiments that require survival counting of the Hypsibius exemplaris species can be greatly improved by using this technique in order to limit underestimation of alive animals.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fluorescent Dyes / metabolism
  • Longevity / drug effects
  • Sodium Azide / pharmacology
  • Stress, Psychological / mortality
  • Survival Analysis
  • Tardigrada / drug effects
  • Tardigrada / metabolism
  • Tardigrada / physiology*

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Sodium Azide

Grants and funding

This work was supported by CNRS Défi Origins 2018 funding program - Grant number : 265880 - Giga18 (http://www.cnrs.fr/mi/spip.php?article1345). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.