Long-term survival of hydrated resting eggs from Brachionus plicatilis

Several organisms display dormancy and developmental arrest at embryonic stages. Long-term survival in the dormant form is usually associated with desiccation, with orthodox plant seeds and Artemia cysts well documented examples. Several aquatic invertebrates displaying dormancy during embryonic development survive for tens or even hundreds of years in a hydrated form, raising the question whether survival in the non-desiccated form of embryonic development depends on pathways similar to those occurring in desiccation tolerant forms.

多种生物在胚胎阶段会表现出休眠与发育停滞现象。以休眠形式实现的长期存活通常与干燥脱水过程相关，已有充分研究记录的典型案例包括正常型植物种子与卤虫（Artemia）胞囊。部分在胚胎发育阶段呈现休眠特性的水生无脊椎动物，能够在水合状态下存活数十年乃至数百年，这一现象引出了一个科学疑问：非脱水状态下的胚胎休眠存活，是否依赖与耐脱水休眠生物相似的通路机制？