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From Planarians to Parasites: Mechanisms Regulating Germ Cells and Developmental Plasticity
June 27 @ 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Phil Newmark, Burnell R. Roberts Chair in Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research
Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MinAjX0QTx2vVt3-6oUPzg
Lecture Abstract: Planarians are free-living flatworms with extraordinary regenerative abilities. In addition to their somatic tissues, planarians can also regenerate their germ cells. Newmark will review his studies on the systemic control of reproductive system development and regeneration in planarians. He will then present recent work identifying niche-derived factors that regulate germ cell development. This work will show how such signals are deployed differently between planarians and their parasitic cousins, the schistosomes, with important implications for the evolution of these parasites. He will also discuss how his team’s efforts to understand the early development of schistosomes have uncovered a novel strategy these parasites use to evade the host immune system.