Anhydrobiosis: a strategy for survival.

Many organisms from a wide variety of taxa have the ability to survive extreme dehydration, a phenomenon called "anhydrobiosis." Concomitantly with resistance to the adverse effects of drying, these organisms are also resistant to the effects of freezing to very low temperatures, elevated temperature for brief periods, and the effects of ionizing radiation. One result of their resistance to environmental extremes is a greatly prolonged life span. The anhydrobiotes that have been investigated share a common metabolic adaptation, the production of certain disaccharides as a large proportion of their dry weight. Using these disaccharides, we have investigated the sources of damage attendant upon drying and the mechanisms by which anhydrobiotes and model systems of isolated membranes and proteins avoid damage. This report summarizes aspects of this work.