A small set of conserved genes, including sp5 and Hox, are activated by Wnt signaling in the posterior of planarians and acoels.

Wnt signaling regulates primary body axis formation across the Metazoa, with high Wnt signaling specifying posterior identity. Whether a common Wnt-driven transcriptional program accomplishes this broad role is poorly understood. We identified genes acutely affected after Wnt signaling inhibition in the posterior of two regenerative species, the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea and the acoel Hofstenia miamia, which are separated by >550 million years of evolution. Wnt signaling was found to maintain positional information in muscle and regional gene expression in multiple differentiated cell types. sp5, Hox genes, and Wnt pathway components are down-regulated rapidly after ß-catenin RNAi in both species. Brachyury, a vertebrate Wnt target, also displays Wnt-dependent expression in Hofstenia. sp5 inhibits trunk gene expression in the tail of planarians and acoels, promoting separate tail-trunk body domains. A planarian posterior Hox gene, Post-2d, promotes normal tail regeneration. We propose that common regulation of a small gene set-Hox, sp5, and Brachyury-might underlie the widespread utilization of Wnt signaling in primary axis patterning across the Bilateria.

teashirt is required for head-versus-tail regeneration polarity in planarians.

Regeneration requires that the identities of new cells are properly specified to replace missing tissues. The Wnt signaling pathway serves a central role in specifying posterior cell fates during planarian regeneration. We identified a gene encoding a homolog of the Teashirt family of zinc-finger proteins in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea to be a target of Wnt signaling in intact animals and at posterior-facing wounds. Inhibition of Smed-teashirt (teashirt) by RNA interference (RNAi) resulted in the regeneration of heads in place of tails, a phenotype previously observed with RNAi of the Wnt pathway genes ß-catenin-1, wnt1, Dvl-1/2 or wntless. teashirt was required for ß-catenin-1-dependent activation of posterior genes during regeneration. These findings identify teashirt as a transcriptional target of Wnt signaling required for Wnt-mediated specification of posterior blastemas.

Muscle cells provide instructions for planarian regeneration.

Regeneration requires both potential and instructions for tissue replacement. In planarians, pluripotent stem cells have the potential to produce all new tissue. The identities of the cells that provide regeneration instructions are unknown. Here, we report that position control genes (PCGs) that control regeneration and tissue turnover are expressed in a subepidermal layer of nonneoblast cells. These subepidermal cells coexpress many PCGs. We propose that these subepidermal cells provide a system of body coordinates and positional information for regeneration, and identify them to be muscle cells of the planarian body wall. Almost all planarian muscle cells express PCGs, suggesting a dual function: contraction and control of patterning. PCG expression is dynamic in muscle cells after injury, even in the absence of neoblasts, suggesting that muscle is instructive for regeneration. We conclude that planarian regeneration involves two highly flexible systems: pluripotent neoblasts that can generate any new cell type and muscle cells that provide positional instructions for the regeneration of any body region.