Photokinesis and Djopsin gene expression analysis during the regeneration of planarian eyes

Abstract

Planarians provide the ideal model for studying eye development, with their simple eye structure and exceptionally rapid regeneration. Here, we observed the eye morphogenesis, photophobic behavior, spectral sensitivity and expression pattern of Djopsin in the freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica. The results showed that: (i) Djopsin encoding the putative protein belonged to the rhabdomeric opsins group and displayed high conservation during animal evolution; (ii) planarians displayed diverse photophobic response to different visible wavelengths and were more sensitive to light blue (495 nm) and yellow (635 nm); (iii) the morphogenesis and functional recovery of eyes were related to the expression pattern of Djopsin during head regeneration; and (iv) Djopsin gene plays a major role in functional recovery during eye regeneration and visual system maintenance in adult planarians.

Meis1 Controls the Differentiation of Eye Progenitor Cells and the Formation of Posterior Poles during Planarian Regeneration

“…These results suggest that DjMeis1 is required for the differentiation of eye progenitor cells expressing Djovo , and in turn, the formation of eye progenitor cells promote the expression of DjMeis1 . Furthermore, to examine whether the differentiation from eye progenitor cells into mature eye cells was also affected after knockdown of DjMeis1 , we detected the formation of mature eye cells by WISH for opsin [ 41 , 45 ]. We observed that no mature eye cells were regenerated in DjMeis1 RNAi animals at 7 dpa ( Figure 2 E), indicating that DjMeis1 also played an important role in the formation of mature eye cells from eye progenitor cells.…”