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 in
population size.
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 very
much, however both respond to light.
Data and Observations (Ronda)
Day Time Cut Number of fragments with photoreceptors Observations

1/23/17 8:52 am 2 1 The head is moving to the wall while the tail is in place.

1/24/17 8:50 am 2 1 None of the segments are moving, however the head has
photoreceptors.

1/25/17 8:43 am 2 1 The head is slowly moving, the tail segment is not.

1/27/17 9:00 am 2 1 The head is moving, the tail is not moving however it is
slightly larger

1/30/17 8:37 am 2 2 Both the head and the tail are moving

1/31/17 8:31 am 2 2 We think that both the segments are close to being fully
grown; when Sam put his finger above them, they both
responded and moved away

2/1/17 10:10 am 2 2 Both segments look like fully grown planaria

Data and Observations (Ragnar)
Day Time Cut Number of fragments with photoreceptors Observations

1/23/17 9:02 am 3 sections 1 There are three sections, the only part moving away from
the light is the head while the other two sections are
moving in place.

1/24/17 8:55 am 3 sections 1 None of the segments are moving

1/25/17 8:46 am 3 sections 1 The head segment is slowly moving, the other sections are
not

1/27/17 9:00 am 3 sections 1 The head segment is the only one moving.

1/30/17 8:37 am 3 sections 1 All three sections are moving and responding to light. The
head segment, is much more active than the other
segments

1/31/17 8:82 am 3 sections 1 They have not grown very much and while they respond
slightly to the environment, they are not very active. The
head part is slowly moving.

2/1/17 10:16 am 3 sections 2 None of the sections are moving very much, however the
head and the tail sections now have photoreceptors. The
middle section did not develop photoreceptors.
 Class Data
Cut Number Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9

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 Number Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.5 2.25

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.5 1.83

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)
Cut 2 and Cut 3, day 9: .21822 (weak evidence that stem cells are spread out)
Cut 1 and Cut 3, day 9: .20814 (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/1ouwJNXtWo5xV7h0Fwk8D1HTB8
KuqfHzvOSrfwN8jKyo/edit?usp=sharing

Sarah-
https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1PzSwD_cuoU9zykWF-dXewlJZIM
npKfShwuOFGubpTK4/edit?usp=sharing

Peyton-https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1OQnRJVHJx-dKQNnYGV
kPQUkHm6NFvt_ZjQ1XOZrAJjs/edit?usp=sharing

Sydney-https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1tf09NxV9AL-2X3RI-4RWu
yEzouHVC0ZJTY9c9ZR_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