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ReportsSmed-βcatenin-1 Is Required for Anteroposterior Blastema Polarity in Planarian RegenerationPlanarian flatworms can regenerate heads at anterior-facing wounds and tails at posterior-facing wounds throughout the body. How this regeneration polarity is specified has been a classic problem for more than a century. We identified a planarian gene, Smed-βcatenin-1, that controls regeneration polarity. Posterior-facing blastemas regenerate a head instead of a tail in Smed-βcatenin-1(RNAi) animals. Smed-βcatenin-1 is required after wounding and at any posterior-facing wound for polarity. Additionally, intact Smed-βcatenin-1(RNAi) animals display anteriorization during tissue turnover. Five Wnt genes and a secreted Frizzled-related Wnt antagonist-like gene are expressed in domains along the anteroposterior axis that reset to new positions during regeneration, which suggests that Wnts control polarity through Smed-βcatenin-1. Our data suggest that β-catenin specifies the posterior character of the anteroposterior axis throughout the Bilateria and specifies regeneration polarity in planarians.
1 Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: reddien{at}wi.mit.edu
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