title: Ciliate cryptobiosis: a microbial strategy against environmental starvation.
abstract: This review outlines the main features of ciliate resting-cyst formation or encystment. It represents a strategy against several environmental stresses (such as starvation), which involves a highly gene-regulated cell differentiation process and originates a more resistant, differentiated form or resting cyst. This process is mainly characterized by drastic cytoplasmic dehydration that induces a general metabolic rate decrease, intense autophagic activity, the formation of a permeable cyst wall protecting the cell against the adverse environmental conditions, and a gene-silencing mechanism after opening the specific encystment genes.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología III, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. jgf00004@teleline.es
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Callejas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borniquel
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benítez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martín-González
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002843:Chromatin; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D017753:Ecosystem; D020868:Gene Silencing; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D012333:RNA, Messenger