Project (Jochen Rink)

Our lab studies the fascinating ability of some planarian flatworms to regenerate complete animals from tiny tissue pieces. This ability hinges critically upon abundant pluripotent adult stem cells that mediate new tissue formation during regeneration and continuously renew all cell types in non-regenerating animals. A self-organizing network of conserved patterning signals instructs cell fate choices in a location dependent manner. Interestingly, the intricate interplay between signals and cell fate choices doesn’t work in all planarian species and regeneration deficiencies have evolved independently at multiple points of the planarian lineage.

We want to understand the gene regulatory dimension of planarian regeneration and thereby, the genomic changes that ultimately underlie species specific regeneration defects. Towards this goal, we pioneer the establishment of functional and comparative genomics techniques in planarians and we maintain a large zoo of planarian species for comparative analysis. We are always on the look-out for talented and dedicated individuals to join our interdisciplinary research endeavour. Experience in next generation sequencing techniques (e.g., RNAseq, ATACseq, scSEQ), single cell sequencing, bioinformatic analyses or animal model research are a plus, but the only thing that’s really necessary is a deep passion for regeneration and the research endeavor in general. Open projects include the comparative analysis of a head regeneration defect, understanding the gene regulatory basis of the head versus tail regeneration decision at wound sites or the gene regulatory basis of cell fate specification via single cell sequencing approaches, but we are always happy to discuss other interesting avenues…

• Grohme M, Schloissnig S, Rozanski A, Pippel M, Young G, Winkler S, Brandl H, Henry I, Dahl A, Powell S, Hiller M, Myers E, Rink JC (2018) The genome of S. mediterranea and the evolution of cellular core mechanisms. Nature 554(7690):56-61


• Rozanski, A.; Moon, H.; Brandl, H.; Martin-Duran, J. M.; Grohme, M. A.; Hüttner, K.; Bartscherer, K.; Henry, I.; Rink JC.: PlanMine 3.0improvements to a mineable resource of flatworm biology and biodiversity. Nucleic Acids Research 47 (D1), pp. D812 - D820 (2019)


• Stueckemann T, Cleland JP, Werner S, Thi-Kim Vu H, Bayersdorf R, Liu SY, Friedrich B, Juelicher F, Rink JC (2017) Antagonistic Self-Organizing Patterning Systems Control Maintenance and Regeneration of the Anteroposterior Axis in Planarians. Dev Cell 40(3):248-263


• Ivankovic, M.; Haneckova, R.; Thommen, A.; Grohme, M. A.; Vila-Farre, M.; Werner, S.; Rink JC.: Mode systems for regeneration: Planarians. Development 146 (17), dev167684 (2019)