A comprehensive comparison of sex-inducing activity in asexual worms of the planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis: the crucial sex-inducing substance appears to be present in yolk glands in Tricladida.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Turbellarian species can post-embryonically produce germ line cells from pluripotent stem cells called neoblasts, which enables some of them to switch between an asexual and a sexual state in response to environmental changes. Certain low-molecular-weight compounds contained in sexually mature animals act as sex-inducing substances that trigger post-embryonic germ cell development in asexual worms of the freshwater planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis (Tricladida). These sex-inducing substances may provide clues to the molecular mechanism of this reproductive switch. However, limited information about these sex-inducing substances is available.

Results

Our assay system based on feeding sex-inducing substances to asexual worms of D. ryukyuensis is useful for

SUBMITTER: Nakagawa H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5996458 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature