Regeneration writ large

Remembering where we are: Positional information in salamander limb regeneration

“…The susceptibility of salamander genomes to transposon‐like insertions across evolutionary history may have led to alterations in the mechanisms by which Hox genes and other genes essential for limb development are regulated . Similar features have been detected within the genomes of other organisms with exceptional regenerative abilities, leading to speculation that these genomic insertions may have altered the regulation of positional identity genes as to permit their reactivation in response to injury . As the genomes of these regenerative animals have only recently been assembled, whether the unique genomic features of these animals are essential for the maintenance or reestablishment of positional information during regeneration remains unexplored.…”

Regeneration in Echinoderms: Molecular Advancements

“…Other than the identified retrotransposons expressed during regeneration and fission of sea cucumbers mentioned there are no further studies addressing their role during tissue regeneration or other processes in echinoderms. Although there is a limited knowledge about retrotransposons in invertebrate species with advanced regenerative capacities, current data suggests that their abundant representation in the genome of these species (Flowers and Crews, 2018;Nowoshilow et al, 2018;Biryukov et al, 2020) and their upregulation after injury might be correlated to a species regenerative capacity. The degree to which these sequences are involved in this process is still unexplored, but as more genomic data is generated for distinct echinoderm species, we will be able to answer questions about these elements that were previously difficult to approach.…”