2. What is a planarian?• Classified in the
Platyhelminthes
phylum or “flat worms”
• Carnivores
• No anus and eats
using pharynx in
middle of its body
• Has central nervous
system
Flat worm with ability to regenerate
3. What is a planarian?
Continued
• Sexually reproduce and asexually reproduce through
division
• Hypotheses for regeneration:
• Epimorphosis- neoblasts
• Morphallaxis- morphogens give instructions
• Polar Coordinate model- molecules act as “zip code”
4. S Retinoids (found in animals) and carotenoids (found
in plants) are two subgroups of vitamin A group.
S Retinoids provide immune, inflammatory, genetic,
and reproductive benefits and are important to cell
growth and embryonic development.
Retinol
5. Purpose/Hypothesis
S Since Vitamin A is essential to growth and
maintenance of the body, we studied the effects of
foods with varying amounts of vitamin A on
Planarian regeneration.
S We hypothesized that Planarians fed greater
amounts of vitamin A would show greater
regeneration compared to others fed less.
6. Vitamin A Retinoid Found in
Foods
Food Vitamin A per 100g
Chicken Breast 50 IU
Egg Yolk 1,442 IU
Beef Liver 53,400 IU
Turkey Liver 72,350 IU
S We predicted that turkey liver would have the greatest
growth while chicken breast would have the least
because turkey liver has the most vitamin A, and chicken
breast has the least.
13. Analysis
S In both the heads and bodies, the turkey liver groups
had the greatest total growth compared to the
others.
S In both the heads and bodies, the chicken breast
groups had the least total growth compared to the
others.
S The beef liver had a greater total growth compared
to the egg yolk in heads, but egg yolk was greater
than beef liver in bodies. This slight variation shows
that these amounts of vitamin A were not large
enough to show any noticeable differences.
14. Conclusion
S Results confirm hypothesis
S As we predicted, we found that the group of
Planarians fed turkey liver grew the most and
the Planarians fed chicken breast grew the least.
