Temporal shifts in insect cuticular hydrocarbons in response to experimental desiccation
- 1Division of Biological and Life Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Navaranpura, Ahmedabad, India
- 2Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
- 3School of Science, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia
Abstract
Insects are vulnerable to desiccation as they are small and have a high surface area-to-volume ratios. Over 80% of their body water is lost through the cuticle, but insects possess specialised cells that synthesize cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to form a hydrophobic waxy barrier that reduces water loss. However, how rapidly CHCs are synthesized and transported across the cuticle under desiccating conditions remains poorly understood. To examine this, we exposed male Drosophila melanogaster to varying desiccation durations (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 h) and compared CHC profiles for each of these time-points to an experimental control (no desiccation: 0 h). We found a rapid, time-dependent shift in CHC composition, marked by an early increase in short-chain hydrocarbons followed by enrichment of longer chain, methyl-branched CHCs over longer periods of desiccation exposure. Cumulative water loss increased most sharply within the first 2 h of desiccation and then progressed more slowly from 2 to 8 h before rising again at 10 h. These changes were closely mirrored by temporal shifts in CHC composition, suggesting that CHCs are dynamic and respond rapidly to desiccation stress.
Related
- Exceptional preservation in cherts reveals complex cuticular architecture in one of the earliest Cambrian ecdysozoans
- An atypical cysteine-type protein domain regulates cuticular extracellular matrix assembly in nematodes
- Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Nine Resurrection Plant Species: Conserved Regulation Versus Structural Paralog Capacity in Desiccation Tolerance
- Structures and Dynamics of Metabolites in Desiccation Tolerant S. lepidophylla Plant Whole Cells Investigated by 13C Solid-State NMR
- Response to “radiomics of mandibular osteoradionecrosis with recurrence: The need for etiologic and temporal validation”
BibTeX
@article{nair2026temporal,
title = {{Temporal shifts in insect cuticular hydrocarbons in response to experimental desiccation}},
author = {Abhishek Nair and Ramakrishnan Vasudeva and Christopher Mitchell and John Hunt and David J. Hosken and Manmohan D. Sharma and Subhash Rajpurohit},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0359617},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359617},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Temporal shifts in insect cuticular hydrocarbons in response to experimental desiccation
AU - Abhishek Nair
AU - Ramakrishnan Vasudeva
AU - Christopher Mitchell
AU - John Hunt
AU - David J. Hosken
AU - Manmohan D. Sharma
AU - Subhash Rajpurohit
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0359617
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359617
AB - Insects are vulnerable to desiccation as they are small and have a high surface area-to-volume ratios. Over 80% of their body water is lost through the cuticle, but insects possess specialised cells that synthesize cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to form a hydrophobic waxy barrier that reduces water loss. However, how rapidly CHCs are synthesized and transported across the cuticle under desiccating conditions remains poorly understood. To examine this, we exposed male Drosophila melanogaster to varying desiccation durations (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 h) and compared CHC profiles for each of these time-points to an experimental control (no desiccation: 0 h). We found a rapid, time-dependent shift in CHC composition, marked by an early increase in short-chain hydrocarbons followed by enrichment of longer chain, methyl-branched CHCs over longer periods of desiccation exposure. Cumulative water loss increased most sharply within the first 2 h of desiccation and then progressed more slowly from 2 to 8 h before rising again at 10 h. These changes were closely mirrored by temporal shifts in CHC composition, suggesting that CHCs are dynamic and respond rapidly to desiccation stress.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -