A hypothesis-driven approach to understanding insect freeze tolerance

Some insects can withstand internal ice formation, but although we know many of the biochemical and other factors that are associated with freeze tolerance, we do not yet have a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms. I will introduce Gryllus veletis, the spring field cricket, as a model system for investigating insect freeze tolerance. G. veletis becomes freeze tolerant after acclimation in the laboratory, which allows us to employ an experimental design that separates and controls for the effects of cold and ice in freeze tolerance. This allows us to move beyond a phenomenological description of freeze tolerance to an hypothesis-driven approach. I will describe two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses (‘protection’ and repair’), and use preliminary data to show how we can use these hypotheses as a framework to move beyond correlations and into mechanism.