Meeting Abstract
Injury for long-lived planktonic larvae is likely, and therefore tissue reorganization and regeneration are expected. Like many other invertebrate larvae, the nemertean pilidium develops over several weeks in the plankton before it undergoes a catastrophic metamorphosis. In response to injury, the larval body is capable of regeneration at the expense of the developing juvenile structures. Comparing proliferation to developmental progress of the juvenile and larval structures highlights the relationship between regeneration and degeneration. Here we evaluate the contribution of putative stem cells and changes in the proliferation pattern in early stages of lappet regeneration. Lappet regeneration utilizes physiological maintenance associated with lappet growth. The process is driven by putative stem cell proliferation and re-patterned by existing structures in response to injury. Documenting regeneration in the pilidia has highlighted the relationship between regeneration and degeneration and the role of global signaling in response to injury.
