G C A T T A C G G C A T genes Review Whole-Body Regeneration in Sponges: Diversity, Fine Mechanisms, and Future Prospects Alexander Ereskovsky 1,2,3,* , Ilya E. Borisenko 2 , Fyodor V. Bolshakov 4 and Andrey I. Lavrov 4 1 Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie Marine et Continentale (IMBE), Aix Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, Station Marine d’Endoume, Rue de la Batterie des Lions, Avignon University, 13007 Marseille, France 2 Department of Embryology, Faculty of Biology, Saint-Petersburg State University, 199034 Saint-Petersburg, Russia;
[email protected] 3 Evolution of Morphogenesis Laboratory, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia 4 Pertsov White Sea Biological Station, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119192 Moscow, Russia;
[email protected] (F.V.B.);
[email protected] (A.I.L.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +33-662-107-366 Abstract: While virtually all animals show certain abilities for regeneration after an injury, these abilities vary greatly among metazoans. Porifera (Sponges) is basal metazoans characterized by a wide variety of different regenerative processes, including whole-body regeneration (WBR). Consid- ering phylogenetic position and unique body organization, sponges are highly promising models, as they can shed light on the origin and early evolution of regeneration in general and WBR in particu- lar. The present review summarizes available data on the morphogenetic and cellular mechanisms accompanying different types of WBR in sponges. Sponges show a high diversity of WBR, which principally could be divided into (1) WBR from a body fragment and (2) WBR by aggregation of dissociated cells.