This gene may function during the diapause program by increasing desiccation resistance or energy reserves.
At the corresponding latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere (approximately 30° to 35° S), pollen analysis indicates increasing desiccation during the Subboreal stage, with a maximum dryness about 3200 bp.
The increasing desiccation, and more frequent droughts, can result in tree death, increased flammability, fires, and further drought (Zemp et al. 2017b).
Moreover, O-acetylation impairs polySia degradation by neuraminidases and increases desiccation resistance, which may favour colonization of the intestinal tract and survival outside the host organism, respectively [11], [13].
Decreased rainfall in mid to late summer could adversely affect ticks, causing increased desiccation stress, but because this decrease occurred during the wettest season of the year, and also commonly followed an increase in rainfall in June, it is unlikely that conditions became limiting for either survival or questing by ticks.
Seed development and maturation are accompanied by increased desiccation tolerance [ 60].
A second-order polynomial regression provided a better fit to the data, suggesting that increased desiccation tolerance only evolved above a certain aridity threshold (Fig. 4).
In experimental populations of D. melanogaster that responded to increased desiccation conditions, CHC differences did evolve, but there were no associated changes in sexual isolation suggesting that CHCs involved in desiccation resistance were different from those used for mate choice [ 85].
Embryo and larval salamanders exposed to environmentally realistic atrazine concentrations have been reported to have an increased desiccation risk 8 months after exposure had ceased (Rohr and Palmer 2005), indicating that the carryover effects of atrazine on amphibian survival should be explored.
Further, in a separate study on this species with similar exposure and rearing conditions, atrazine had no significant effect on larval survival, yet exposure was associated with hyperactivity and increased desiccation risk 8 months after exposure, with no detectable recovery from atrazine exposure (Rohr and Palmer 2005).
