ABSTRACT
While much of the focus on echinoderm regeneration has concerned environmental effects, currently there is an increasing attention on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in this remarkable phenomenon. We have employed a multidisciplinary approach to this problem in an attempt to link environmental effects with the molecular biology of echinoderm regeneration. Here, the effects of temperature and the organic pollutant pyrene on the rate of A. filiformis arm regeneration have been studied. Arm regeneration rate increased with temperature over 6-14°C. Pyrene appeared to enhance regeneration rate at low concentrations, but inhibited regenerative growth at higher concentrations.
