Meeting Abstract
The ability to regenerate lost body parts is widespread but variable in animals, and organismal physiology is expected to contribute significantly to regeneration success. Annelids, the segmented worms, include many regenerators, but little is known about how tissue loss and regeneration affect other life processes such as reproduction or environmental stress resistance. The annelid Pristina leidyi reproduces asexually via paratomic fission, making it a convenient organism in which to study investment strategies and functional consequences of regeneration. I am studying how the loss and subsequent regeneration of tissues alters the response of P. leidyi to thermal stress and reproductive investment, including how these responses differ depending on the specific tissues lost, i.e. head vs. tail segments. To determine the impact of tissue loss and subsequent regeneration on thermal resistance, I am assessing how survival and metabolic rate are affected by acute thermal exposure both immediately after amputation and after regeneration is complete. For this project, I am also assessing cellular and energetic allocation patterns during regeneration and how allocation strategies affect reproductive output. Understanding the functional costs of tissue loss and regeneration, and how these costs vary depending on extrinsic and intrinsic conditions, will contribute to understanding what factors may influence regeneration success and investment. Ultimately, such studies will improve our understanding of the evolution of regeneration and how changing environmental conditions may impact ecological processes involving regenerating species.
