Biology subjects

Sobkowiak, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Sobkowiak, R..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Mitochondrial alternative oxidase contributes to successful tardigrade anhydrobiosis

Anhydrobiosis can be described as an adaptation to lack of water. This adaptation provides some organisms including tardigrades with a set of capabilities allowing them to survive extreme conditions that even do not exist on Earth. However, the underlying cellular mechanisms are still not explained. Available data assumes important contribution of mitochondrial proteins. Since mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX) described as a drought response element has recently been proposed for various invertebrates including tardigrades, we have decided to check if AOX is involved in successful anhydrobiosis of tardigrades. Milnesium inceptum was used as a model for the study. We confirmed functionality of M. inceptum AOX and estimated its activity contribution to anhydrobiosis of different duration. We observed that AOX activity was particularly important for M. inceptum revival after longer-term anhydrobiosis but did not affect rehydration stage. The results may contribute to explanation and then application of anhydrobiosis underlying mechanisms.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Chemoreception of Meloidogyne incognita and Caenorhabditis elegans on botanical nematicidals

Plant-parasitic nematodes cause serious damage to various agricultural crops worldwide, and their control necessitates environmentally safe measures. Plant secondary metabolites of botanical origin are tested here-in to study their effect in Meloidogyne incognita locomotion, being this an important factor affecting host inoculation inside the soil. We compare the effect to the respective behavioral responses of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. The tested botanical nematicidals, all reported of activity against Meloidogyne sp. in our previous works, belong to different chemical groups of small molecular weight molecules encompassing acids, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones. Specifically we report on the attractant or repellent properties of trans-anethole, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, (E)-2-decenal, fostiazate, and 2-undecanone. The treatments for both nematode species were made at sublethal concentration levels, namely 1mM (<EC50), and the chemical control used for the experiment was the commercial nematicide fosthiazate and oxamyl. According to our results, trans-anethole, decenal, and oxamyl act as C. elegans attractants. 2-undecanone strongly attracts M. incognita. These findings can be of use in the development of nematicidal formulates, contributing to the disruption of nematode chemotaxis to root systems.

pharmacology and toxicology↗

bioRxiv2017

Caenorhabditis elegans as an emerging model for studying the basic biology of anorectic effects of nicotine

Nicotine decreases food intake, and smokers often report that they smoke to control their weight. To see whether similar phenomena could be observed in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, we challenged drug-na{iota}ve nematodes with a chronic low (0.01 mM) and high (1 mM) nicotine concentration for 55 h (from hatching to adulthood). After that, we recorded changes in their behavior in a nicotine gradient, where they could choose a desired nicotine concentration. By using a combination of behavioral and morphometric methods, we found that both nicotine and food modulate worm behavior. In the presence of food the nematodes adapted to the low nicotine concentration, when placed in the gradient, chose a similar nicotine concentration like C. elegans adapted to the high nicotine concentration. However, in the absence of food, the nematodes adapted to the low nicotine concentration, when placed in the gradient of this alkaloid, chose a similar nicotine concentration like naive worms. The nematodes growing up in the presence of high concentrations of nicotine had a statistically smaller body size, compared to the control condition, and the presence of food did not cause any enhanced slowing movement. These results provide a platform for more detailed molecular and cellular studies of nicotine addiction and food intake in this model organism.

animal behavior and cognition↗