The mechanism by which insects perceive cold and transduce this input at the cellular level has received little attention. To test the hypothesis that isolated insect tissues can undergo rapid cold-hardening in direct response to cold, we assessed cell viabilities in tissues from adult flesh fly, Sarcophaga crassipalpis using fluorescent probes. After 2 h cold-hardening at 0°C, cell survival rate at –10°C (2 h) increased from 3.8 to 29.6% in the fat body; from 31.8 to 56.4% in the gut tissue; from 18.2 to 34.2% in the Malpighian tubules; and from 7.0 to 19.6% in the salivary gland, compared with tissues without cold-hardening treatment. Our results suggest that insect cells respond directly to cold temperatures.
Species 1: Diptera Sarcophagidae Sarcophaga crassipalpis (flesh fly)
Keywords: cell viability
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