Habitats with considerably harsh conditions such as cold or hot temperatures, accessibility to water and to different energy sources, or under high pressure, are very hard to survive in and are thus considered extreme. Examples of extreme environments include the geographical poles, very arid deserts, volcanoes, deep ocean trenches, upper atmosphere, and outer space. However, some invertebrate species can survive and thrive in such difficult conditions being very well adapted, usually a result of long-term evolution.
Now, in an age of climate change and anthropogenic pressure, organisms face warmer, more acidic, and more toxic environments than ever before. These variations are sometimes sudden, in some cases overcoming the resistance ability of individual invertebrate species, thus altering the level of resilience of entire organisms and communities.
Responses and adaptations to extreme and hostile environments can now be broadly profiled, thanks to current technological advances. This Research Topic aims to provide a major interdisciplinary synthesis of recent advances in the study on invertebrate strategies and responses to stress under unfavorable conditions. Understanding the mechanisms that support such an extreme stress response will prove invaluable for future potential biotechnological applications, such as food security, conservation, and disease prevention/treatment.
This Research Topic intends to shed light on the current and advanced knowledge concerning all aspects of the invertebrate toolbox, which allows them to cope to extreme environments, such as whole-organismal, physiological, cellular, molecular, genomic responses and cellular signaling mechanisms.
We welcome original articles, full reviews, mini reviews, and perspectives relevant to the following themes, but not limited to them:
• Global warming
• Cold, high temperatures
• Stress-responsive whole organismal responses of invertebrates
• Genomic and genic responses to stress
• Organismal and cellular-level physiology and biochemistry
• Signal transduction and molecular underpinnings
Habitats with considerably harsh conditions such as cold or hot temperatures, accessibility to water and to different energy sources, or under high pressure, are very hard to survive in and are thus considered extreme. Examples of extreme environments include the geographical poles, very arid deserts, volcanoes, deep ocean trenches, upper atmosphere, and outer space. However, some invertebrate species can survive and thrive in such difficult conditions being very well adapted, usually a result of long-term evolution.
Now, in an age of climate change and anthropogenic pressure, organisms face warmer, more acidic, and more toxic environments than ever before. These variations are sometimes sudden, in some cases overcoming the resistance ability of individual invertebrate species, thus altering the level of resilience of entire organisms and communities.
Responses and adaptations to extreme and hostile environments can now be broadly profiled, thanks to current technological advances. This Research Topic aims to provide a major interdisciplinary synthesis of recent advances in the study on invertebrate strategies and responses to stress under unfavorable conditions. Understanding the mechanisms that support such an extreme stress response will prove invaluable for future potential biotechnological applications, such as food security, conservation, and disease prevention/treatment.
This Research Topic intends to shed light on the current and advanced knowledge concerning all aspects of the invertebrate toolbox, which allows them to cope to extreme environments, such as whole-organismal, physiological, cellular, molecular, genomic responses and cellular signaling mechanisms.
We welcome original articles, full reviews, mini reviews, and perspectives relevant to the following themes, but not limited to them:
• Global warming
• Cold, high temperatures
• Stress-responsive whole organismal responses of invertebrates
• Genomic and genic responses to stress
• Organismal and cellular-level physiology and biochemistry
• Signal transduction and molecular underpinnings
