Functional brain regeneration in the acoel worm Symsagittifera roscoffensis
Simon G. Sprecher,
F. Javier Bernardo-Garcia,
Lena van Giesen,
Volker Hartenstein,
Heinrich Reichert,
Ricardo Neves,
Xavier Bailly,
Pedro Martinez,
Michael Brauchle
Affiliations
Simon G. Sprecher
Institute of Developmental and Cell Biology, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, Fribourg 1700, Switzerland
F. Javier Bernardo-Garcia
Institute of Developmental and Cell Biology, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, Fribourg 1700, Switzerland
Lena van Giesen
Institute of Developmental and Cell Biology, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, Fribourg 1700, Switzerland
Volker Hartenstein
Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive, East Boyer Hall 559, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
Heinrich Reichert
Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 50, Basel 4056, Switzerland
Ricardo Neves
Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive, East Boyer Hall 559, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
Xavier Bailly
UPMC-CNRS, FR2424, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Roscoff 29680, France
Pedro Martinez
Departament de Genètica, Universitat de Barcelona, A v. Diagonal, 643, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain
Michael Brauchle
Institute of Developmental and Cell Biology, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, Fribourg 1700, Switzerland
The ability of some animals to regrow their head and brain after decapitation provides a striking example of the regenerative capacity within the animal kingdom. The acoel worm Symsagittifera roscoffensis can regrow its head, brain and sensory head organs within only a few weeks after decapitation. How rapidly and to what degree it also reacquires its functionality to control behavior however remains unknown. We provide here a neuroanatomical map of the brain neuropils of the adult S. roscoffensis and show that after decapitation a normal neuroanatomical organization of the brain is restored in the majority of animals. By testing different behaviors we further show that functionality of both sensory perception and the underlying brain architecture are restored within weeks after decapitation. Interestingly not all behaviors are restored at the same speed and to the same extent. While we find that phototaxis recovered rapidly, geotaxis is not restored within 7 weeks. Our findings show that regeneration of the head, sensory organs and brain result in the restoration of directed navigation behavior, suggesting a tight coordination in the regeneration of certain sensory organs with that of their underlying neural circuits. Thus, at least in S. roscoffensis, the regenerative capacity of different sensory modalities follows distinct paths.
