IBMM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France.
PLoS One. 2018 Oct 26;13(10):e0206444. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206444. eCollection 2018.
The design of experimental protocols that use animal models to assess the impact of a stress on a population or to determine the life span expectancy impact can be time-consuming due to the need for direct observations of dead and living animals. These experiments are usually based on the detectable activity of animals such as food intake or mobility and can sometimes produce either under- or overestimated results. The tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris is an emerging model for the evolutionary biology of the tardigrade phylum because of its convenient laboratory breeding and the recent introduction of new molecular tools. In this report, we describe the use of a new fluorescent dye that can specifically stain dead tardigrades. Furthermore, we also monitored the absence of a toxic side effect of the death-linked fluorescent dye on tardigrade populations. Finally, we conclude that tardigrade experiments that require survival counting of the Hypsibius exemplaris species can be greatly improved by using this technique in order to limit underestimation of alive animals.
由于需要直接观察死亡和存活动物，使用动物模型评估压力对种群的影响或确定预期寿命影响的实验方案设计可能会很耗时。这些实验通常基于动物的可检测活动，例如食物摄入或移动性，有时会产生低估或高估的结果。缓步动物 Hypsibius exemplaris 因其方便的实验室繁殖和最近引入的新分子工具，成为缓步动物门进化生物学的新兴模型。在本报告中，我们描述了一种新的荧光染料的使用情况，该染料可以特异性地染色死亡的缓步动物。此外，我们还监测了死亡相关荧光染料对缓步动物种群没有毒性副作用。最后，我们得出结论，使用这种技术可以大大改进需要对 Hypsibius exemplaris 物种进行存活计数的缓步动物实验，以限制对活体动物的低估。
