Tegumental Repair in the Adult Trematode, Ochetosoma aniarum

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Abstract
The regenerative capabilities of the tegument of O. aniarum [from Natrix] were examined using light microscopy, EM and radiolabeling techniques. Transection of the adult trematode posterior to the acetabulum resulted in intense muscular contraction at the wound edge and immediate reformation of a plasma membrane over the cut tegument surface. Within 24 h the injured tegument became thickened and highly convoluted and turned inward over the wound and cut basement layer. A thin shelf of regenerating tegument containing numerous vesicles and lysosomal-like bodies formed rapidly, moved over the exposed tissues of the wound and completed closure between the 5th and 7th days following transection. This thin, vacuolated tegument gradually increased in thickness and appeared normal in morphology by 14 days following injury. There was no regeneration of basement layer or tegumental cytons during that period. Levels of protein synthesis and cell division were not drastically altered during the regenerative process. Apparently, ability of the trematodes to regenerate extensively damaged surface tegument, a response that may be operative in processes that cause stress or destruction at the trematode surface.