Belgica antarctica (Diptera: Chironomidae): A natural model organism for extreme environments

Abstract

Belgica antarctica (Diptera: Chironomidae), a brachypterous midge endemic to the maritime Antarctic, was first described in 1900. Over more than a century of study, a vast amount of information has been compiled on the species (3 750 000 Google search results as of January 10, 2021), encompassing its ecology and biology, life cycle and reproduction, polytene chromosomes, physiology, biochemistry and, increasingly, omics. In 2014, B. antarctica's genome was sequenced, further boosting research. Certain developmental stages can be cultured successfully in the laboratory. Taken together, this wealth of information allows the species to be viewed as a natural model organism for studies of adaptation and function in extreme environments.

Long-term retainment of some chromosomal inversions in a local population of Belgica antarctica Jacobs (Diptera, Chironomidae)

“…In response to environmental factors, some species are known to exhibit a so-called clinal variation in the frequency and qualitative content of chromosome inversions, explained by the adaptation to different environmental factors (Hoffmann and Rieseberg 2008). Inversion polymorphism of B. antarctica has been the subject of only a few studies (Kozeretska et al 2021). Atchley and Davis (1979) assumed that the heterozygous inversions observed in their investigation had some adaptive value through the mechanism which promoted heterozygosity and reduced recombination.…”

External Morphology of Larvae of Belgica antarctica Jacobs, 1900 (Diptera, Chironomidae) Obtained from Two Locations in Maritime Antarctica

“…We analyzed B. antarctica collections obtained from terraces covered by carpets of the moss Sanionia sp. from two locations (Figure 1 in vitro) and the large body of studies now available make it an attractive model to study the effects of extreme conditions on biological processes at multiple levels of organization [7]. The adult midge was first described in 1900 based on material collected during the 'Belgica' Expedition [8].…”

“…The brachypterous chironomid midge Belgica antarctica Jacobs is endemic to the western Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. Its biology has been the subject of research by ecologists, physiologists, geneticists and taxonomists [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Recent developments in understanding of this insect's ontogenesis (some stages of which can be studied in vitro) and the large body of studies now available make it an attractive model to study the effects of extreme conditions on biological processes at multiple levels of organization [7].…”

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Chironomus striatipennis Kieffer provides insights into benthic adaptation and metamorphosis mechanism

“…These findings suggest that the expanded and contracted gene families may be closely related to the adaptive evolution in C. striatipennis. It is similar to Belgica antarctica and P. akamusi , that they can resist the adverse environment by expanded heat shock proteins (HSPs) (Sun, X et al, 2021;Kozeretska, I et al, 2022). Chironomid midge with same life history asC.…”

“…Therefore, the regulation of heme metabolic pathway related to hemoglobin activity is particularly important. Another important factor facilitating to adaptation for environment is that many detoxification enzyme genes are highly expressed in chironomid (Kozeretska et al, 2022). Futhermore, chironomids are holometabolous insects undergoing four distinct stages, egg, larva, pupa and adult, and the larval stage accounts for the vast majority of the lifecycle.…”