Wood frogs tolerate freezing through cryoprotectants that prevent cellular damage
Wood frogs survive sub-zero winter temperatures by producing and distributing cryoprotectants like glucose and urea, which prevent severe cellular damage and limit tissue dehydration during freezing.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies establish that wood frogs and related freeze-tolerant amphibians synthesize and accumulate cryoprotectants such as glucose and urea, which prevent cellular damage, reduce ice content, and mitigate dehydration during freezing. All relevant papers support the claim, and no papers refute it.
Jon P. Costanzo, Richard E. Lee, Peter H. Lortz. Glucose Concentration Regulates Freeze Tolerance In the Wood Frog <i>Rana Sylvatica</i>. 1993. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.181.1.245
Demonstrates that glucose acts as a cryoprotectant that increases freeze tolerance and reduces cellular injury in wood frogs.
See more details
J. P. Costanzo, Alice M. Reynolds, M. C. F. do Amaral, Andrew J. Rosendale, R. Lee. Cryoprotectants and Extreme Freeze Tolerance in a Subarctic Population of the Wood Frog. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117234
Shows that subarctic wood frogs accumulate elevated levels of cryoprotectants like glucose and urea to survive extreme freezing temperatures.
Wu CW, Tessier SN, Storey KB. Stress-induced antioxidant defense and protein chaperone response in the freeze-tolerant wood frog Rana sylvatica.. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12192-018-0926-x
Highlights that wood frogs trigger protective mechanisms, including protein chaperones and antioxidants, to manage cellular stress caused by freezing and ice formation.
L. Hawkins, Minjing Wang, Baowen Zhang, Qi Xiao, Hui Wang, K. Storey. Glucose and urea metabolic enzymes are differentially phosphorylated during freezing, anoxia, and dehydration exposures in a freeze tolerant frog.. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbd.2019.01.009
Examines metabolic adaptations and enzymes involved in producing glucose and urea as cryoprotectants during freezing exposure.
Storey JM, Wu S, Storey KB. Mitochondria and the Frozen Frog.. 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox10040543
Details how wood frogs limit cell volume reduction and cellular damage through small molecule cryoprotectants such as glucose and urea.
do Amaral MCF, Frisbie J, Crum RJ, Goldstein DL, Krane CM. Hepatic transcriptome of the freeze-tolerant Cope's gray treefrog, Dryophytes chrysoscelis: responses to cold acclimation and freezing.. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-6602-4
Notes that freeze-tolerant treefrogs withstand corporeal freezing partly by accumulating hepatic cryoprotective compounds like glucose, glycerol, and urea.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt