Dissecting Oxidative Stress and Organismic Response to a Temperature Gradient in the Midge <i>Chironomus riparius</i>.

ABSTRACT: Oxidative stress, caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), poses a major challenge for organisms facing temperature fluctuations. This study provides the first direct in vivo measurements of ROS production together with transcriptome analysis of oxidative stress genes across a broad range of ecologically relevant temperatures in insect larvae of the dipteran midge Chironomus riparius. We observed a U-shaped pattern of oxidative stress, with minimal ROS levels within an optimal thermal window (12°C-18°C) and significantly elevated stress at both cold and warm extremes. Crucially, our findings reveal distinct underlying molecular mechanisms for ROS generation at these extremes: at low temperatures, predominantly ROS produced is of the superoxide group, linked to hypoxia-induced hemogl

SUBMITTER: Bulut B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12698206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature