Meeting Abstract
Both the loss of tissue and the regeneration of tissue are expected to impose considerable physiological costs on animals. Although injury is common in nature and regeneration is widespread among animals, the impacts of injury and regeneration on physiological performance remain poorly studied in many animal groups, especially aquatic invertebrates. Furthermore, distinguishing the costs of injury from those of regeneration specifically is challenging, and studies that attempt to distinguish these are rare. Working with the freshwater annelid Pristina leidyi, we tested the effects of traumatic tissue loss and regeneration on performance, focusing specifically on environmental stress tolerance. Amputation injury either decreased or did not affect acute cold tolerance, depending on the location of the injury. However, contrary to our expectations, amputation injury actually improved tolerance to both acute heat stress and salinity stress. Regeneration of tissue only significantly reduced heat tolerance, an effect that was also dependent upon injury location. Based on our finding that injury improves tolerance to multiple distinct stressors, we hypothesize that injury induces a generalized cellular stress response that can prime animals to better manage subsequent homeostatic challenges. RNA-seq and microrespirometry experiments are ongoing to test this hypothesis and further explore the physiological responses to injury and regeneration.
