Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Malinowski PT
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5642676 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20170925 41
Asexual freshwater planarians reproduce by tearing themselves into two pieces by a process called binary fission. The resulting head and tail pieces regenerate within about a week, forming two new worms. Understanding this process of ripping oneself into two parts poses a challenging biomechanical problem. Because planarians stop "doing it" at the slightest disturbance, this remained a centuries-old puzzle. We focus on <i>Dugesia japonica</i> fission and show that it proceeds in three stages: a ...[more]