Genome of anhydrobiotic extremotolerant tardigrade, ready to suspend

Tardigrades, generally called water bears, are tiny microscopic animals harboring 4 pairs of legs and comprise a distinct phylum Tardigrada, which belong to superphylum Ecdysozoa with Arthropoda and Nematoda. Many of limno-terrestrial tardigrades tolerate desiccation by entering an ametabolic dehydrated state called anhydrobiosis. In anhydrobiotic state, tardigrades tolerate various extreme environments including even direct exposure to space. The project aim to provide genomic basis for anhydrobiotic ability and extremotolerance of tardigrades with expression data during anhydrobiosis by transcriptomic analyses. Genome and transcriptome data also provide comprehensive gene models to reveal phylogenetic position of this phylum especially in relation to legged Arthropoda and unlegged Nematoda.