Application of laser-capture microdissection to planarian intestinal tissue provides a new tool for analysis of tissue-specific gene expression in flatworms, and a new resource to advance investigations of gastrointestinal regeneration.
NR4A is a broadly conserved transcription factor that is required for concordance of patterning information and anatomy at both ends of the planarian anterior-posterior axis.
Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies an adult regional gene expression map in planarian muscle that includes two FGFRL-Wnt circuits controlling head and trunk tissue pattern.
A combination of experimental and theoretical analysis identifies body size-dependent energy storage as the physiological cause of 3/4-power law scaling of the metabolic rate in planarians.
Hedgehog signaling plays a role in regulating glia gene expression in planarians, pointing to a candidate ancestral and broadly used role for the Hedgehog pathway.