Regenerative capabilities in Spiralia: an integrative approach towards the understanding of regenerative processes

• Grant number: 24/16456-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Sónia Cristina da Silva Andrade
• Grantee: Bruno José Teixeira de Melo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06738-8 - Seascape genetics and comparative genomics: an integrative evolutionary approach in marine invertebrates, AP.BTA.JP2

Abstract

The regenerative capabilities of metazoans became extremely diverse through the course of evolution. Within Spiralia, for example, most annelids possess both anterior and posterior regeneration, with some species having none of these abilities. On the other hand, mollusks exhibit limited regeneration in specific parts of their body, while in Nemertea, all species are known to have posterior regeneration, with only some species regenerating the anterior part of their bodies. Besides a few mentions in the literature of such regenerative diversity, little is known about the details regarding the evolutionary history of regeneration in these animals and how much the molecular components of this machinery are conserved, mainly in Nemertea, which is a poorly studied group. In order to better understand how Spiralian regenerative abilities diversified during evolution, genes known for their importance in regeneration will be investigated in genomes and transcriptomes of several spiralian species. In addition, regeneration experiments, followed by immunohistochemistry assays, will be done in the nemertean Lineus sanguineus in order to identify patterns of cell proliferation and nervous system and muscle formation. This study aims to evaluate anterior and posterior regeneration capabilities to better understand regenerative processes of Spiralia.