The effects of X‐rays on anterior regeneration in tubifex tubifex

Abstract

AbstractObservations of earlier workers concerning the limited region from which anterior regeneration will occur in Tubifex and the reduced number of segments formed were confirmed in control worms used in these experiments. Only three anterior segments are replaced when as many as twelve are removed. Regeneration is completed within 18 days.Removal of anterior segments from worms that have received 9000 (r) units exposure to x‐rays is not followed by regeneration. The wound heals rapidly and worms have been kept in laboratory 70 days without further change. Longitudinal sect ons of injured ends show that the epidermis and muscle layers extend across the wound surface to completely close the body cavity. The intestine retracts slightly and heals to form a blind tube. No mitotic figures appear in cells of this region and there is no evidence of regeneration.In control worms material for formation of the cerebral ganglia and new epidermis arises by proliferation of epidermal cells. The new pharynx arises from the region of the old intestine adjacent to the wound surface. The muscle layers of the body wall and pharynx in new segments are apparently formed by migration of cells from the old muscle elements about the margin of the wound area. No neoblasts were observed in anterior migration or in the process of formation upon adjacent septa in any of the worms.