Vol. 56 Nos. 1/2/3 (2012) pp.1-196

The Planaria Model System

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The spectacular regeneration capability of soft-bodied planarians has enchanted us for many years. Within days of losing its head and tail, a new head and a new tail are formed. The new tissues, although not yet pigmented (see unpigmented extremes of the illustrated planarian), are perfectly patterned, and perfectly functional. One of the “secrets” of how planarians achieve this is a population of totipotent stem cells called neoblasts. The curious reader is invited, by exploring the papers in this Special Issue, to find out if planarians really have discovered the secret of immortality, living in the incessant fountain of youth, … or not! The illustrated planarian belongs to the species Schmidtea mediterranea, and it is a freshwater planarian. For more details, see paper by Galloni, pp. 103-116.

Preface

Planarian regeneration: a classic topic claiming new attention
Emili Saló and Kiyokazu Agata
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 1-4

Introductory Papers

Evolutionary history of the Tricladida and the Platyhelminthes: an up-to-date phylogenetic and systematic account
Marta Riutort, Marta Álvarez-Presas, Eva Lázaro, Eduard Solà and Jordi Paps
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 5-17 The planarian neoblast: the rambling history of its origin and some current black boxes
Jaume Baguñà
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 19-37 Planarian embryology in the era of comparative developmental biology
José M. Martín-Durán, Francisco Monjo and Rafael Romero
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 39-48 The past and present of planarians - An interview with Vittorio Gremigni
Alessandra Salvetti and Leonardo Rossi
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 49-52

Contributions

Wnt signaling in planarians: new answers to old questions
Maria Almuedo-Castillo, Miquel Sureda-Gómez and Teresa Adell
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 53-65 Small RNA pathways in Schmidtea mediterranea
Alissa M. Resch and Dasaradhi Palakodeti
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 67-74 An insulin-like peptide regulates size and adult stem cells in planarians
Claire M. Miller and Phillip A. Newmark
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 75-82 Decreased neoblast progeny and increased cell death during starvation-induced planarian degrowth
Cristina González-Estévez, Daniel A. Felix, Gustavo Rodríguez-Esteban and A. Aziz Aboobaker
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 83-91 Comprehensive gene expression analyses in pluripotent stem cells of a planarian, Dugesia japonica
Norito Shibata, Tetsutaro Hayashi, Ryutaro Fukumura, Junsuke Fujii, Tomomi Kudome-Takamatsu, Osamu Nishimura, Syozo Sano, Fuyan Son, Nobuko Suzuki, Ryoko Araki, Masumi Abe and Kiyokazu Agata
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 93-102 Global irradiation effects, stem cell genes and rare transcripts in the planarian transcriptome
Mireille Galloni
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 103-116 Heterogeneity of planarian stem cells in the S/G2/M phase
Sören Moritz, Franziska Stöckle, Claudia Ortmeier, Henning Schmitz, Gustavo Rodríguez-Esteban, Göran Key and Luca Gentile
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 117-125 Stem cell protection mechanisms in planarians: the role of some heat shock genes
Maria-Emilia Isolani, Maria Conte, Paolo Deri and Renata Batistoni
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 127-133 Stem cells and neural signalling: the case of neoblast recruitment and plasticity in low dose X-ray treated planarians
Leonardo Rossi, Paola Iacopetti and Alessandra Salvetti
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 135-142 Regeneration of neuronal cell types in Schmidtea mediterranea: an immunohistochemical and expression study
Susanna Fraguas, Sara Barberán, Begoña Ibarra, Linda Stöger and Francesc Cebrià
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 143-153 Inhibitory Smads and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) modulate anterior photoreceptor cell number during planarian eye regeneration
Alejandro González-Sastre, Mª Dolores Molina and Emili Saló
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 155-163 The Dr-nanos gene is essential for germ cell specification in the planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis
Haruka Nakagawa, Hirotsugu Ishizu, Ayako Chinone,Kazuya Kobayashi and Midori Matsumoto
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 165-171 The planarian P2X homolog in the regulation of asexual reproduction
Toshihide Sakurai, Hayoung Lee, Makoto Kashima, Yumi Saito, Tetsutaro Hayashi, Tomomi Kudome-Takamatsu, Osamu Nishimura, Kiyokazu Agata and Norito Shibata
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 173-182 Physiological and molecular characterisation of cadmium stress in Schmidtea mediterranea
Michelle Plusquin, An-Sofie Stevens, Frank Van Belleghem, Olivier Degheselle, Andromeda Van Roten, Jessica Vroonen, Ronny Blust, Ann Cuypers, Tom Artois and Karen Smeets
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 183-191 Planarians in pharmacology: parthenolide is a specific behavioral antagonist of cocaine in the planarian Girardia tigrina
Oné R. Pagán, Debra Baker, Sean Deats, Erica Montgomery, Matthew Tenaglia, Clinita Randolph, Dharini Kotturu, Christopher Tallarida, Daniel Bach, Galia Wilk, Scott Rawls and Robert B. Raffa
Int. J. Dev. Biol. (2012) 56: 193-196

The International Journal of Developmental Biology
ISSN 1696-3547 (online) and 0214-6282 (print)