Planaria Inquiry Lab

Sam Carner, Sarah Nadir, Peyton Korte and Sydney

Atkinson
Planaria Background
Flatworms have three tissue layers, ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm.
These tissues are organized into organs and organ systems.

Thus, flatworms are the simplest animals with mesodermal layers and
organ-system levels of organization.

However they do not have body cavity. They are acoelomates.

Acoelomates are invertebrates lacking a coelom

Planaria Background (continued)
They have a triangular head with two auricles and two light sensing eye
spots called ocelli, which give them a cross-eyed appearance

Most live in freshwater

Most are carnivores that feed at night, eating protozoans, tiny snails and
worms. They eat live or dead animals using their muscular retractable
pharynx which can extend out of the mouth

Their digestion is completed inside the cells after the food has been
sucked through the pharynx
Planaria Background (continued)
Planaria have very simple organ systems

Their nervous system consists of a

small brain and two long parallel
nerve cords

Their digestive system consists of a

mouth, a pharynx, and a three-
branched digestive cavity

They do not have a skeletal,

circulatory or respiratory system
Planaria Background (continued)
All are hermaphrodites (both sexes occur in the same individual)

Researchers found that planarian regeneration depends on the activity of

stem cells distributed throughout the worms body

Regeneration is due to the presence of totipotent adult somatic stem cells,

called neoblasts, which can make up as much as 30% of all cells in the adult
worm
Planaria Background (continued)
After amputation, the body around the wound contracts rapidly and within a
day, a blastema (a structure made of rapidly dividing cells) is formed at the
amputation site

The pharynx of the planarian depends on the FoxA gene for regeneration,
however other organs and tissues can regenerate without it.
Stem Cell Background
Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the potential to become
tissue or organ specific cells with specific functions.

The inner cells of the blastocyst give rise to the cells of the entire
body.
These are called embryonic stem cells

In some bone marrow, muscle and brain tissue, adult stem cells are
found that generate replacement cells for cells that are lost or
damaged throughout a lifetime.
Stem Cell Background (continued)
Stem cells are being researched to cure diseases including heart
disease and diabetes in which parts of the body or organ are not
functioning as they are supposed to.
In some types of diabetes, the pancreatic beta cells are unable to produce insulin, so
stem cells can one day be instructed to specialize as beta cells in the pancreas
that are able to produce insulin.
Stem Cells Background (continued)

STEM CELLS VIDEO!!

Hypothesis
If the planarian is cut in half (cut 2) then the two parts will regenerate at
the same pace. The head section will grow a tail and the tail section will
grow a head, and both reach full planaria size at the same time.

This will happen because the process of evolution and natural

selection has spread out the stem cells throughout the
planarians body. Stem cells are cells that have the sole purpose
of maintenance and regeneration, they will travel to a damaged
region and help repair or replace tissue, therefore it matters
where they are, because they can only heal near where they are
located. The planarian with the stem cells on one side of the
body or the other slowly died out as their environment cut them
in pieces and only one side of their body regenerated, when the
other planaria regenerated two clones and grew exponentially
Procedure
1.Obtained a petri dish that we then filled with distilled water.

2.Then transfer the planarian into the petri dish. The planaria are
fragile, so be extremely careful when transferring.

3.Look at the planarian under the microscope, under the lowest

power. Do this quickly the planarian dont like the light, and will
swim to the walls as fastly as the can. The best thing to do is wait
for them to swim to the center and then move them under the
microscope. Make sure to try and get a picture of them under the
microscope.

4.Obtain a clear glass slide cover to cut the planaria. To do cut 2, just
cut the planaria in half.
Procedure (continued)
5. Over the next few days keep the planaria in a dark setting, taking
pictures of their growth process each day. Count the number of tail
fragments that have regenerated photoreceptors and record the
numbers with any other observations.

Cut 1 Cut 2
Cut 3
Day Zero Observations (Ronda)
Light, temperature and type of cut may influence regeneration

After cutting the planaria, the tail fragments are moving in place while
the head is moving toward the wall. They move differently likely
because the head has receptors for light while the tail does not.

The head fragment prefers shade because it is moving to the wall,

and when light is shined into the dish it moves away from it.
Final Day Observations (Ronda)
Both the segments have
photoreceptors; the tail segment
regenerated its photoreceptors.

The head grew faster than the tail

segment, although by the end of the
9 days, both segments were about
the same size.

Neither of the segments are moving

Data and Observations (Ronda)
D Ti C Number of Observations
ay m ut fragments with
e photoreceptors

1/ 8: 2 1 The head is
23 52 moving to the wall
/1 a while the tail is in
7 m place.

1/ 8: 2 1 None of the
24 50 segments are
/1 a moving, however
7 m the head has
photoreceptors.

1/ 8: 2 1 The head is slowly

25 43 moving, the tail
/1 a segment is not.
7 m

1/ 9: 2 1 The head is
27 00 moving, the tail is
/1 a not moving
7 m however it is
slightly larger

1/ 8: 2 2 Both the head and

30 37 the tail are moving
/1 a
Data and Observations
(Ragnar)
D
ay
Ti
m
e
Cut Number of
fragments with
photoreceptors
Observations

1/ 9: 3 1 There are three

23 02 sect sections, the only
/1 a ion part moving away
7 m s from the light is
the head while the
other two sections
are moving in
place.

1/ 8: 3 1 None of the
24 55 sect segments are
/1 a ion moving
7 m s

1/ 8: 3 1 The head segment

25 46 sect is slowly moving,
/1 a ion the other sections
7 m s are not

1/ 9: 3 1 The head segment

27 00 sect is the only one
/1 a ion moving.
7 m s

1/ 8: 3 1 All three sections

 Class
Cut
Nu
mbe
Data
Da
y
1
Da
y2
Da
y3
Da
y4
Da
y5
Da
y6
Da
y7
Da
y8
Da
y9

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Class Data Averages

Cut D Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da
Nu a y2 y3 y4 y5 y6 y7 y8 y9
mb y
er 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.5 2.2
5

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.5 1.8
3

3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.4 1.8
T-test Results
Cut 1 and Cut 2, day 8: 1 (weak evidence that stem cells are spread
out)

Cut 2 and Cut 3, day 8: .77015 (weak evidence that stem cells are
spread out)

Cut 1 and Cut 3, day 8: .8654 (weak evidence that stem cells are
spread out)

Cut 1 and Cut 2, day 9: .21822 (weak evidence that stem cells are
spread out)
Analysis
The head developed into a full size worm faster than the tail segment,
however by the end of the nine days, both segments were the same
size (Ronda and Ragnar data and pictures)

In every cut, other sections did not regenerate photoreceptors until

day 8 or day 9 (class data)

The T-Test provides weak evidence that the stem cells are spread
evenly throughout the body of the planarian

We can conclude from the data that stem cells are spread throughout
planaria and not localized (class data and t-test values), which
supports our hypothesis.
Pictures (first day)
Ronda:

Ragnar:
Pictures (day three)
Ronda:

Ragnar
Ragnar (last day)
Ronda (last day)
Conclusions (put your links here)
Sam-
https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1ouwJNXtWo5xV7h0Fw
k8D1HTB8KuqfHzvOSrfwN8jKyo/edit?usp=sharing

Sarah-
https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1PzSwD_cuoU9zykWF-
dXewlJZIMnpKfShwuOFGubpTK4/edit?usp=sharing
Peyton-
https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1OQnRJVHJx-dKQNnYG
VkPQUkHm6NFvt_ZjQ1XOZrAJjs/edit?usp=sharing
Sydney-
https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1tf09NxV9AL-2X3RI-
4RWuyEzouHVC0ZJTY9c9ZR_POY/edit?usp=sharing
Bibliography
1. Stem cell information. (n.d.). Retrieved February 06, 2017, from https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/1.htm
2. Planarian. (n.d.). Retrieved February 06, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/animal/planarian
3. El-Showk, S. (2014, April 21). Unravelling How Planaria Regenerate. Retrieved February 07, 2017, from
http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/accumulating-glitches/unravelling_regeneration_in_planaria
4. Introduction to Planaria. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2017, from
https://biology.mit.edu/sites/default/files/Introduction%20to%20Planaria(1).pdf
5. Eurostemcell. (n.d.). Retrieved February 07, 2017, from
http://www.eurostemcell.org/diabetes-how-could-stem-cells-help