spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 24 January 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.02794

Development 134, 833-837 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.02794v1
134/5/833    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in Development
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cebrià, F.
Right arrow Articles by Newmark, P. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cebrià, F.
Right arrow Articles by Newmark, P. A.

Research Report

Morphogenesis defects are associated with abnormal nervous system regeneration following roboA RNAi in planarians

Francesc Cebrià* and Phillip A. Newmark{dagger}

Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B107 Chemical and Life Sciences Laboratory, 601 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

{dagger} Author for correspondence (e-mail: pnewmark{at}life.uiuc.edu)

Accepted 15 December 2006

SUMMARY

The process by which the proper pattern is restored to newly formed tissues during metazoan regeneration remains an open question. Here, we provide evidence that the nervous system plays a role in regulating morphogenesis during anterior regeneration in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown of a planarian ortholog of the axon-guidance receptor roundabout (robo) leads to unexpected phenotypes during anterior regeneration, including the development of a supernumerary pharynx (the feeding organ of the animal) and the production of ectopic, dorsal outgrowths with cephalic identity. We show that Smed-roboA RNAi knockdown disrupts nervous system structure during cephalic regeneration: the newly regenerated brain and ventral nerve cords do not re-establish proper connections. These neural defects precede, and are correlated with, the development of ectopic structures. We propose that, in the absence of proper connectivity between the cephalic ganglia and the ventral nerve cords, neurally derived signals promote the differentiation of pharyngeal and cephalic structures. Together with previous studies on regeneration in annelids and amphibians, these results suggest a conserved role of the nervous system in pattern formation during blastema-based regeneration.

Key words: Neural regeneration, Planarian, Axon guidance, ROBO, Schmidtea mediterranea


Related articles in Development:

Nervous about regeneration

Development 2007 134: e501. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
Y. Wang, R. M. Zayas, T. Guo, and P. A. Newmark
nanos function is essential for development and regeneration of planarian germ cells
PNAS, April 3, 2007; 104(14): 5901 - 5906.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007