Abstract
A method of tissue maceration (dissociation) of planarian tissues into single cells was used to characterize the basic cell types in the planarians Dugesia mediterranea and Dugesia tigrina, and to determine the total cell number and distribution of cell types during growth, degrowth and regeneration.
Using this method, 13 basic cell types have been determined for both species. The total number of cells increases with body length and volume whereas the distribution of cell types is only slightly affected. Growth and degrowth occur mainly through changes in total cell number leaving cell distribution only moderately affected. During regeneration, an increase in neoblast density in the blastema followed later on by increases in nerve cells are the more significant changes detected.
These results are discussed in relation to mechanisms of cell renewal, blastema formation and maintenance of tissue polarity.
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Abbreviations
- nb:
-
neoblasts
- nv:
-
nerve cells
- ep:
-
epidermal cells
- fp:
-
fixed parenchyma cells
- g:
-
gastrodermal cells
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Baguñá, J., Romero, R. Quantitative analysis of cell types during growth, degrowth and regeneration in the planarians Dugesia mediterranea and Dugesia tigrina. Hydrobiologia 84, 181–194 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00026179
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00026179