Flatworm species that regenerates found in Pashan Lake
According to PhD student Mithila Chinchalkar and her research guide Ravindra Kshirsagar from the department of zoology, this is the first time since 1983 that a new species of planarian was scientifically recorded in India.
"This specimen was deposited at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). We named it Dugesia punensis to give credit to its place of discovery, in Pune," said Kshirsagar.
The paper was published recently in Records of the Zoological Survey of India. Scientists explained that planarians are aquatic flatworms known for their regenerative capabilities.
"Even if their body is cut into pieces, each piece can regenerate into a complete organism.
Hence, they are very important in stem cell research also," said Kshirsagar.
Chinchalkar described the discovery as fascinating. "We were screening the water bodies in and around Pune to study the aquatic biodiversity as a part of my PhD thesis."
"We were doing this for the past three years. Planarian worms are found in stagnant water," said Chinchalkar.
"The moment we saw this flatworm through the microscope, we knew it was something different.
The regenerative potential of this worm is 14 days, compared to others whose regenerative span is about 18 days or more. The morphology is also different from others. It is more delicate than ones," said Chinchalkar, who wants to study stem cell characterisation.
Kshirsagar says that they studied external morphology, anatomical features, and finally did the genomic sequencing to establish that the species was indeed new.
"We sent the study paper with all the data a year ago, and finally it was published in the journal on June 1," said Kshirsagar.
"Identifying this new species is important, as this is one of the best organisms to study stem cells and how regeneration occurs. From the field of medicine to organ regeneration, studying these species will help us understand the mechanism behind regeneration better," said Ravindra Kshirsagar.
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