Intercalary regeneration and level interactions in the fresh-water planarianDugesia lugubris : I. The anteroposterior system.

In the planarianDugesia lugubris, when two originally widely separated body levels are joined together, intercalary regeneration is induced. The whole sequence of levels normally intervening between the two levels joined are reformed by one of the two associated pieces. Generally regeneration is accomplished by morphallactic remodelling. This process starts at the margin of the suture, which was originally nearer to the head, and progressively extends through the piece, which is entirely remodelled if it is too short. Thus, a head cut at the level of the eyes and joined to a tail is totally reshaped, forming a new head with a new pair of eyes and a new prepharyngeal zone in which the original eyes persist. When the head piece is too short, the pharynx is not produced by the regenerate, but secondarily through remodelling of the tail piece. Remodelling of the head piece is also observed when it is joined to a prepharyngeal piece. When a head piece is joined in reverse orientation to a tail piece, the remodelling, which is directed by the tail, leads to the reversal of polarity in the head tissues. When the head piece is entirely remodelled it forms an anterior extremity, a new head with new eyes and a prepharyngeal zone containing the original eyes. After joining the preocular level to a prepharyngeal level the intercalary regenerate is entirely built up by dedifferentiated cells (epimorphosis), which are produced by the prepharyngeal tissues (the margin which represents the more posterior level). The results do not support Child's concept of dominance and are interpreted in the light of the concept of cell sociology.