PLANARIA

LAB: REGENERATION PROBLEM: Which section of the planaria will regenerate first, the anterior mid section, or posterior? HYPOTHESIS: If trisected, then the mid section will grow back first. THEORY: Planaria are hermaphrodite flatworms that reproduce sexually. Planarian eggs are fertilized internally through sex, but the fertilized eggs are laid externally. Planaria reproduce sexually by producing two different kinds of eggs based upon what months of the year the eggs are laid. Eggs produced in the summer are thin- shelled and transparent, while swinter eggs are usually black. Summer eggs hatch quickly, while winter eggs stay dormant for a longer period of time, able to withstand unfavorable conditions during the colder months. Planaria have both male and female reproductive organs, allowing them to mate with any organism of their own kind. Although planaria have both sexual organs, they cant reproduce with themselves. The sperm of one planaria must fertilize the egg of another. When planarian organisms reproduce sexually, they create a genetically diverse environment. This form of reproduction creates a wide gene pool for planaria. Planaria are also able to reproduce asexually. There are two types of asexual reproduction: fragmentation and dropping tails. Fragmentation begins through a transverse constriction, and a piece of the planaria will eventually break off from the contraction. The two pieces of planaria will then both regenerate into full-sized flatworms. This process is very efficient, but it creates a very concrete gene pool, as the asexual offspring of the planaria is an exact replica of the original. This creates many planaria in an environment with similar DNA with others. This can be dangerous because is there are many clones of a single organism, the gene pool of planaria will shrink dramatically, resulting in a higher rate of mutation. This is why planaria tend to only reproduce asexually as a last resort if there is no other planaria to reproduce with. Asexual reproduction and replacement of cellular tissues happens through a process called regeneration. Planaria are very interesting creatures, as they go through a process called bidirectional regeneration. When a lizard drops its tail, the tail doesnt grow into a full-sized lizard, but with planarian, when a tail is dropped, a second planaria is created. In order to regenerate their bodies, almost 30% of a planarians cells are stem cells. These cells are todipotent, meaning they have the potential to become any type of differentiated cell. When an injury is recognized by the body, embryo-like stem cells by the name of neoblasts move to the point of necessity through a process called cell migration. These neoblasts undergo mitosis. One of the two daughter cells differentiate into a cell needed by the body, while the other cell stays as a neoblast, continuing to undergo mitosis. This allows the body to

Lavine, Andrew

Friday, May 10, 2013 10:25:28 AM Pacic Daylight Time

70:56:81:af:fd:3f

always have a consistent amount of neoblasts throughout the body, allowing the planaria to regenerate whenever needed. Planaria also have a great sense of anterior-posterior polarity when injured or dissected. If a planarian has its posterior cut off, it will almost always regrow the lost posterior, and if a planaria gas its anterior cut off, it will almost always regrow its head. This ability to regenerate is very crucial to the survival of the species, as it allows all planaria to regenerate, even if alone. When our group cuts the planaria into three sections, I think the mid section will regenerate first because the mid section can grow in two places at once, as opposed to one. This way, the stem cells will continue to differentiate, as the other stem cells will go to heal both wounds in the planaria. It allows for a faster speed of regeneration because two blastemas can be created to heal the two wounded areas, almost multitasking to regenerate the injured areas. DATA/OBSERVATIONS:

2013 PLANARIA DATA

100 90 Percentage Regenerated First 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Anterior Mid Section Body Part Posterior 21.3 18.2 4th Period 7th Grade 16.4 9.1 62.3 72.7

CONCLUSION: In this lab, we investigated which section of a planarians body would regenerate first, the anterior, mid section, or posterior. I hypothesized the mid section would regenerate first. The posterior regenerated first for my group. Based on the growth of the three body parts, the posterior had the largest size and the greatest amount of pigmentation. The anterior had no signs of a posterior, and although the mid section was fully grown, there was little pigmentation in the

Lavine, Andrew

Friday, May 10, 2013 10:25:28 AM Pacic Daylight Time

70:56:81:af:fd:3f

anterior region. Based on the results for 4th period, 72.7% of all planaria regenerated their mid section first. According to the 7th grade data, 62.3% of all planaria regenerated their mid section first. This data proves that my hypothesis was correct 72.7% of the time, and incorrect 27.3% of the time. EVALUATION/ANALYSIS: This lab was both successful and challenging at the same time. For one, the results showed a certain pattern, with a reliable result in the end. The planaria stayed healthy for our group throughout the lab and were stored well throughout the process. For the most part, the data is reliable because so many data samples were taken. Even though we tried to control as much as possible within the experiment, live organisms are very difficult to work with and often have many factors that contribute to the results. For one, the amount of water in each compartment of the petri dish was different, as we only eyeballed the amounts. This could have affected the rate at which the water became stagnant. It also could have led to certain planaria to tail drop, as we were unable to change the water as much as desired. Another factor that could have contributed to the invalid data was the sizes of the trisections of the planaria. In theory, the different sizes of the three body parts would have led to many invalid test results. One final factor that could have led to difficulties was the planarias response to light. Planaria enjoy dark areas, and the exposure to light under the microscope may have affected the representations of the planarias body parts, because the movement under the light made it difficult to sketch. This could have led to incorrect drawing of the planaria. This may seem that the whole process of experimenting the regeneration process was for nothing. However, enough samples were taken to prove that the mid section does indeed regenerate first, between both the class data and the grade data. From the observations by the grade an overwhelming majority of 62.3% of the planarias midsections regenerated first. Overall, I feel like this lab went extremely well, and the necessary actions to make it accurate were taken, leading to accurate and successful results. Throughout the human body, there are many stem cells that are used for various functions. In planaria, there are also many stem cells that can be used for many functions. The stem cells in the human body are multipotent, meaning they are limited as to what they can turn into. Stem cells in the human body await in stem cell niches, or microenvironments where large amounts of stem cells are found, until chemical signals tell them to differentiate. A stem cell living in a stem cell niche in the bone marrow is limited as to what it can turn into, generally another bone marrow cell. In planaria, however, all stem cells in the body are totipotent, meaning they have full potential to be any type of working cell in the body. This allows regeneration occur quickly, as stem cells can quickly replace the lost tissues and organs. In humans, cells are only totipotent during the first eight days of life, when the fertilized egg begins to divide into a blastocyst, or ball or undifferentiated cells. As this blastocyst grows, the cells can no longer be totipotent, and become pluripotent, and later mulipotent, as the zygote grows into an embryo. By the time a

Lavine, Andrew

Friday, May 10, 2013 10:25:28 AM Pacic Daylight Time

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baby is born, all cells in its body have become multipotent. Although the stem cells function differently within the body, both types between the two species go through the same process of differentiation. First, stem cells undergo mitosis to create two daughter stem cells. After this occurs, chemical signals tell one of the two daughter cells to differentiate into a needed cell, while the undifferentiated stem cell continues to divide. The process repeats over and over again until the organism dies. Multiple Sclerosis is a demyelinating disease of the nervous system in which fatty myelin sheaths protecting the spinal cord and brain are inflamed and damaged. This process leads to scarring and affects the ability of nerve cells to communicate to and from the brain effectively. A brain transmits a message by sending electrical signals through fibers known as axons, which are protected by the myelin. As the amount of intact myelin in the body decreases, the bodys ability to effectively conduct signals decreases, eventually causing death. Symptoms include hand paralysis, impaired vision, and loss of coordination and strength in the muscles. The cell that creates the myelin sheaths that protect the axons are known as oligondendrocytes. When a person is tested positive for Multiple Sclerosis, the body attacks this type of cell, killing it off. Stanford stem cell research has proved that there is hope for this wearing disease. By undifferentiating skin cells, scientists were able to replicate the myelin sheaths protecting the axons in the brain and spinal cord. Scientists can turn genes on and off to ensure the undifferentiation process the skin cells go through. This would allow patients to send signals throughout their body with much more ease, enabling the abilities to talk, walk, and perform other important skills. Dr. Marius Wernig, assistant professor of pathology at Stanford, has successfully converted skin cells into human oligodendrocyte cells, giving hope that this take on the matter could be a solution. The research on this topic is early, testing only occurring in mice and rats, but a study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology has indicated that this process of cell conversion could potentially cure patients with Multiple Sclerosis, giving them a fresh supply of oligodendrocyte cells. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Elson, Lawerence M. The Zoology Book. New York: Harper and Row, 1982 Genetic Science Learning Center. "Stem Cells." Learn.Genetics 23 April 2013 http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/stemcells/ University of Utah. The Sanchez Laboratory. Planarian Regeneration. 2006 Viewed April, 2013 http://planaria.neuro.utah.edu/regenration.php

Lavine, Andrew

Friday, May 10, 2013 10:25:28 AM Pacic Daylight Time

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"Demyelinating Disease." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 09 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demyelinating_disease>. Leuty, Ron. "Stanford Stem Cell Research Offers New Hope for Multiple Sclerosis Patients." San Francisco Business Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2013. <http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/biotech/2013/04/stem-cellsmultiple-sclerosis-ms-myelin.html?page=all>. "Oligodendrocyte." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 7 May 2013. Web. 09 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligodendrocyte>. "Planaria: A Window on Regeneration." Microscope Imaging Station. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. <http://www.exploratorium.edu/imagingstation/research/planaria/story_planaria3.php>. "A Quantitative Analysis of Oligodendrocytes in Multiple Sclerosis Lesions." Brain: A Journal of Neurology. Oxford Journals, n.d. Web. 09 May 2013. <http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/122/12/2279>.

Lavine, Andrew

Friday, May 10, 2013 10:25:28 AM Pacic Daylight Time

70:56:81:af:fd:3f