About this Research Topic

Background

Formerly considered only as harmful, inevitable by-products of aerobic life, reactive oxygen species are currently viewed as key cell messengers in the so called redox signaling. The generation of ROS by multiple pathways (e.g. mitochondrial respiratory chain, NADPH oxidases and other enzymes) and their management by stress responsive pathways (endogenous antioxidants, transcription factor, chaperones and repair systems) compose the redox metabolism, which plays a key role in the maintenance of homeostasis and responds to external stimuli accordingly. In the last few years, our understanding of the interplay between the redox metabolism and animal ecophysiology has drastically advanced as several milestones were achieved, including the identification of conserved responses of the redox metabolism to environmental challenges as well as the recognition of hormesis as a key process in this scenario.

The aim of this Research Topic is to cover research devoted to the understanding of how redox metabolism allows animals to adapt to the environment. Major environmental stresses known to elicit alterations in the redox metabolism include fluctuations in temperature, salinity, pH, ionizing radiation (X-ray and UV), oxygen availability and food availability. The research topic welcomes research on these environmental stresses conducted both in the lab or in the field, as well as acute and chronic exposure protocols. Studies on animal response to anthropogenic processes (e.g., pollutants) will be considered when combined with one of the aforementioned environmental factors.

This Research Topic will consider original research, systematic review, mini review, methods, perspective and brief research report articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Reactive oxygen species signaling under environmental stress
- Modulation of endogenous antioxidants in response to environmental stresses (e.g., radiation, hypoxia, temperature changes, salinity fluctuations and acidification)
- Redox metabolism and hormesis
- Interplay between different environmental stressors (e.g., radiation, hypoxia, temperature changes, salinity fluctuations and acidification)
- Endogenous antioxidants and oxidative stress during metabolic depression (i.e., hibernation, estivation, diapause, etc.)

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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