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suhdaey t1_ix4jwbc wrote

Reply to comment by Foxs-In-A-Trenchcoat in How do insects survive winter? How do northenly climates have any insects? by failedtalkshowhost

Is it being a non-reducing sugar critical? Thanks in advance.

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Foxs-In-A-Trenchcoat t1_ix4l097 wrote

Yeah, it's less reactive. Sugars are typically carbon rings, and if they reduce, that means the ring breaks open into a carbon chain. One end of the chain then has an aldehyde group which is available for chemical reactions. Sugars that stay in ring form are more stable, less reactive chemically.

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chouchchair t1_ix5rc1m wrote

Not at all. Glucose, for example, is used as an “antifreeze” compound in several organisms. It’s more about increasing the osmolality in the extra cellular fluid. If this is done effectively in an organism, the extra cellular fluid may freeze, but the water content has been mostly drawn out of the cells themselves so they won’t lyse during freezing.

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