1. Temperature affects the biology of Schmidtea mediterranea.
- Author
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Hammoudi N, Torre C, Ghigo E, and Drancourt M
- Subjects
- Acclimatization, Animals, Feeding Behavior, Heat-Shock Response, Immunity, Planarians genetics, Planarians immunology, Planarians microbiology, RNA Interference, Staphylococcal Infections immunology, Staphylococcal Infections veterinary, Staphylococcus aureus immunology, Temperature, Planarians physiology, Regeneration
- Abstract
Studies of tissue regeneration and host-pathogen interactions using the model planarian Schmidtea mediterranea have been performed at an experimental temperature of 19 °C. S. mediterranea planarians exposed to 19 °C-32 °C were observed for survival, mobility, feeding and regeneration for three months and elimination of the Staphylococcus aureus pathogen over six days. S. mediterranea planarians died at 30 °C-32 °C after 18 days of observation but tolerated temperatures of 19 °C up to 28 °C with non-significant differences in mobility and feeding behavior. Genetic malleability tested by RNAi feeding was still efficient at 26 °C and 28 °C. Concerning the immune capacity of planarians, we reported an exacerbation of the immune response in worms infected by S. aureus at 26 °C and 28 °C. These observations suggest a temperature modulation of planarian stem cells and illustrate the importance of modulating experimental temperature when using planarians as model organisms to study regeneration and immune response.
- Published
- 2018
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