Purpose: Anhydrobiotic organisms are known to have an extremely high tolerance against a range of stresses. However, the functional role of anhydrobiosis in radiation tolerance is poorly understood, especially in development following irradiation. The present study aims to evaluate effects of anhydrobiosis on radiation tolerance in an anhydrobiotic insect, Polypedilum vanderplanki.

Materials and methods: Larval survival (48 h), anhydrobiotic ability, metamorphosis and reproduction after exposure to 1 – 9000 Gy of gamma-rays at the larval stage were compared between anhydrobiotic (dry) and normal (wet) phases.

Results: Wet larvae were killed in a dose-dependent manner at doses higher than 2000 Gy, and all died within 8 h after 4000 Gy exposure. In contrast, dry larvae survived even 5000 Gy, and some of them still tolerated 7000 Gy and were alive at 48 h after rehydration. Moreover, greater radiotolerance of dry larva, compared to wet ones, was demonstrated in terms of metamorphoses. However, anhydrobiosis did not protect against radiation damage in terms of producing viable offspring.

Conclusion: These results indicate that anhydrobiosis enhances radiotolerance, resulting in increases of successful metamorphoses.