Research Overview

Have you ever wondered how animals survive freezing temperatures in the winter? Or perhaps you thought about how difficult it must be to live in the hot, dry conditions found in some deserts. It is really challenging to live on Earth because of harsh conditions, changing weather, scarcity of food, and pressure from predators, and this is particularly true for ectotherms (cold blooded animals), which rely on their environment to regulate their body temperature. This reliance on the conditions around them to regulate their internal temperature presents numerous challenges that ectotherms must address, or they will not survive. In our research, we examine how insects and other invertebrates tolerate numerous and varied stresses associated with their environment.

Broadly, we are interested in the physiological and ecological adaptations to extreme environments. Our current research focuses on two aspects of stress tolerance:

1) adjusting to rapid changes in temperature or humidity, experienced during natural daily cycles and weather events.

2) long-term, predictable stresses, as might be experienced during winter or in polar environments.

We use organismal, physiological, and molecular approaches to investigate these ideas in a variety of study subjects, and our work has taken us from the high Arctic tundra in northern Alaska to the Antarctic Peninsula and many places in between.

Publications

  • Finch, G., Nandyal, S., Perretta, C. Davies, B., Rosendale, A. J., Holmes, C. J., Gantz, J. D., Spacht, D., Bailey, S. T., Chen, X. and Oyen, K. (2020). Multi-level analysis of reproduction in an Antarctic midge identifies female and male accessory gland products that are altered by larval stress and impact progeny viability. Scientific Reports 10, 19791. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76139-6

  • Gantz, J. D., Spong, K. E., Seroogy, E., Robertson, R. M., & Lee, R. E. (2020). Effects of brief chilling and desiccation on ion homeostasis in the central nervous system of the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 110774.

  • Teets, N. M., Dalrymple, E. G., Hillis, M. H., Gantz, J. D., Spacht, D. E., Lee, R. E., & Denlinger, D. L. (2020). Changes in energy reserves and gene expression elicited by freezing and supercooling in the Antarctic midge, Belgica Antarctica. Insects, 11(1), 18.

  • Potts, L. J., Gantz, J. D., Kawarasaki, Y., Philip, B. N., Gonthier, D. J., Law, A. D., Moe, L., Unrine, J. M., McCulley, R. L., Lee, R. E., & Denlinger, D. L. (2020). Environmental factors influencing fine-scale distribution of Antarctica’s only endemic insect. Oecologia, 1-11.

  • Spacht, D. E., Gantz, J. D., Lee Jr, R. E., & Denlinger, D. L. (2020). Onset of seasonal metabolic depression in the Antarctic midge Belgica antarctica appears to be independent of environmental cues. Physiological Entomology, 45(1), 16-21.

  • Teets, N. M., Gantz, J. D., & Kawarasaki, Y. (2020). Rapid cold hardening: ecological relevance, physiological mechanisms and new perspectives. Journal of Experimental Biology, 223(3).

  • Holmes, C. J., Jennings, E. C., Gantz, J. D., Spacht, D. E., Spangler, A. A., Denlinger, D. L., Lee, R. E., Hamilton, T. L., & Benoit, J. B. (2019). The Antarctic mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus, shares bacterial microbiome community membership but not abundance between adults and tritonymphs. Polar Biology, 42(11), 2075-2085.

  • Teets, N. M., Kawarasaki, Y., Potts, L. J., Philip, B. N., Gantz, J. D., Denlinger, D. L., & Lee, R. E. (2019). Rapid cold hardening protects against sublethal freezing injury in an Antarctic insect. Journal of Experimental Biology, 222(15).

  • Kawarasaki, Y., Teets, N. M., Philip, B. N., Potts, L. J., Gantz, J. D., Denlinger, D. L., & Lee, R. E. (2019). Characterization of drought-induced rapid cold-hardening in the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica. Polar Biology, 1-10.

  • Meibers, H. E., Finch, G., Gregg, R. T., Glenn, S., Assani, K. D., Jennings, E. C., Davies, B., Rosendale, A. J., Holmes, C. J., Gantz, J. D., & Spacht, D. E. (2019). Sex-and developmental-specific transcriptomic analyses of the Antarctic mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus, reveal transcriptional shifts underlying oribatid mite reproduction. Polar Biology, 42(2), 357-370.

  • Gantz, J. D., Spacht, D. E., & Lee, R. E. (2018). A preliminary survey of the terrestrial arthropods of the Rosenthal Islands, Antarctica. Polar Research, 37(1), 1500266.

  • Hoskins, T. D., Gantz, J. D., Wiebler, J. M., Arlinghaus, K., Chaffee, B., Hughes, M., and Fernandes, J. J. (2017) A supplemental study skills course improves student performance and study habits in introductory biology. Cell Biology Education, 16(3) ar43.

  • Yi, S.-X., Gantz, J. D., and Lee, R. E. (2016). Desiccation enhances rapid cold-hardening in a freeze intolerant insect: Evidence for cross tolerance. Journal of Comparative Physiology Part B. 187(1), 79-86.

  • Gantz, J. D., & Lee, R. E. (2015). The limits of drought-induced RCH: Extremely brief, mild desiccation triggers enhanced freeze-tolerance in Eurosta solidaginis larvae. Journal of Insect Physiology. 73: 30-36.

  • D'souza, N. A., Kawarasaki, Y., Gantz, J. D., Lee, R. E., Beall, B. F. N., Shtarkman, Y. M., Kocer Z. A., Rogers, S. O., Wildschutte, H., Bullerjahn, G. S., & McKay, R. M. L. (2013). Diatom assemblages promote ice formation in large lakes. The ISME Journal. 7.8: 1632-1640.