Temperature stress is one of the crucial factors determining geographical distribution of insect species. Most of them are active in moderate temperatures, however some are capable of surviving in extremely high as well as low temperatures, including freezing. The tolerance of cold stress is a result of various adaptation strategies, among others the mitochondria are an important player. They supply cells with the most prominent energy carrier—ATP, needed for their life processes, but also take part in many other processes like growth, aging, protection against stress injuries or cell death. Under cold stress, the mitochondria activity changes in various manner, partially to minimize the damages caused by the cold stress, partially because of the decline in mitochondrial homeostasis by chill injuries. In the response to low temperature, modifications in mitochondrial gene expression, mtDNA amount or phosphorylation efficiency can be observed. So far study also showed an increase or decrease in mitochondria number, their shape and mitochondrial membrane permeability. Some of the changes are a trigger for apoptosis induced via mitochondrial pathway, that protects the whole organism against chill injuries occurring on the cellular level. In many cases, the observed modifications are not unequivocal and depend strongly on many factors including cold acclimation, duration and severity of cold stress or environmental conditions. In the presented article, we summarize the current knowledge about insect response to cold stress focusing on the role of mitochondria in that process considering differences in results obtained in different experimental conditions, as well as depending on insect species. These differentiated observations clearly indicate that it is still much to explore.

中文翻译：

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线粒体作为昆虫冷应激期间能量分裂的目标和中心枢纽

温度胁迫是决定昆虫物种地理分布的关键因素之一。它们中的大多数在中等温度下活跃，但有些能够在极高和极低的温度下生存，包括冰冻。对冷应激的耐受性是各种适应策略的结果，其中线粒体是一个重要的参与者。它们为细胞提供最重要的能量载体——ATP，这是它们生命过程所需的，但也参与许多其他过程，如生长、衰老、防止压力损伤或细胞死亡。在冷应激下，线粒体活性以各种方式变化，部分是为了尽量减少冷应激造成的损害，部分是由于寒冷损伤导致线粒体稳态下降。在应对低温时，可以观察到线粒体基因表达、mtDNA 量或磷酸化效率的改变。迄今为止的研究还显示线粒体数量、它们的形状和线粒体膜通透性的增加或减少。一些变化是通过线粒体途径诱导的细胞凋亡的触发因素，从而保护整个生物体免受细胞水平上发生的寒冷损伤。在许多情况下，观察到的变化并不是明确的，并且在很大程度上取决于许多因素，包括冷适应、冷应激的持续时间和严重程度或环境条件。在本文中，我们总结了当前关于昆虫对冷应激反应的知识，重点关注线粒体在该过程中的作用，考虑到在不同实验条件下获得的结果差异，以及取决于昆虫种类。这些不同的观察清楚地表明，它还有很多需要探索的地方。