Tissue & Cell 35 (2003) 213222

Morphological and ultrastructural analysis of Turritopsis

nutricula during life cycle reversal
E.C. Carla, P. Pagliara, S. Piraino, F. Boero, L. Dini
Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Lecce, Via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Received 13 December 2002; received in revised form 28 February 2003; accepted 7 March 2003

Abstract
The hydrozoa life cycle is characterized, in normal conditions, by the alternation of a post-larval benthic polyp and an adult pelagic
medusa; however, some species of Hydrozoa react to environmental stress by reverting their life cycle: i.e. an adult medusa goes back to the
juvenile stage of polyp. This very uncommon life cycle could be considered as some sort of inverted metamorphosis. A morphological study
of different stages during the reverted life cycle of Turritopsis nutricula led to the characterization of four different stages: healthy medusa,
unhealthy medusa, four-leaf clover and cyst. The ultrastructural study of the cellular modifications (during the life cycle reversion of T.
nutricula) showed the presence of both degenerative and apoptotic processes. Degeneration was prevalent during the unhealthy medusa
and four-leaf clover stages, while the apoptotic rate was higher during the healthy medusa and cyst stages. The significant presence of
degenerative and apoptotic processes could be related to the occurrence of a sort of metamorphosis when an adult medusa transforms itself
into a polyp.
2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hydrozoa; Apoptosis; Lectin-binding sites

1. Introduction
The hydrozoa life cycle is generally characterized by the
alternation of a post-larval benthic polyp and an adult pelagic
medusa; but in some species a reduction or a suppression of
polyp or medusa stage can be observed (Boero and Bouillon,
1993). In a complete cycle, the mature medusa releases gametes into the water where fertilization occurs; while in
species without the medusa stage, gametes develop in special structures (gonophores). After a short period of free life,
the resulting planula larva settles and metamorphoses into
a benthic polyp. During metamorphosis there are running
programs which initially strive to reduce all body parts that
are no longer necessary. Afterwards, a distinct turning point
is reached, followed by the subsequent development of features, finely represented by a primary polyp (Seipp et al.,
2001). This polyp buds other polyps and forms a colony,
but can also bud medusae that detach themselves from the
colony to spend a free life, until the gametes are released,
after which they die.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-0832-298614;
fax: +39-0832-298626.
E-mail address: luciana.dini@unile.it (L. Dini).

In a normal life cycle, stress (all factors causing change

in a biological system), which is potentially injurious and
whose effects may be lethal or sub-lethal, is considered to
be a disadvantage for animals. However, stress is not always
harmful and may trigger very different biological responses;
indeed a variety of stress responses have been measured
in biological systems exposed to various kinds and intensities of stress factors (Karlin and Brocchieri, 1998; Kregel,
2002).
Among Hydrozoa, some species seem to be able to react to stress in an unexpected way: the medusa drift back
ontogenetically to a polyp, generally considered to be a
juvenile stage (Boero et al., 1997). Turritopsis nutricula
was the first described Hydrozoan species able to revert its
life cycle (Bavestrello et al., 1992). The authors claimed
that the reversion occurred only in young medusae, and not
in sexually mature animals. The medusa, under stressed
conditions, develops back to the polyp stage. During this
reversion cellular reorganization is needed; differentiated
cells return to an undifferentiated stage to change their fate
(Piraino et al., 1996). Indeed, by applying different types
of stresses (changes in temperature, salinity, O2 concentration, lack of food), Piraino et al. (1996) induced reversion
and demonstrated that a set of undifferentiated cells in the

0040-8166/03/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0040-8166(03)00028-4

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transforming medusa produced a polyp; this property has

also been observed during indirect development, when undifferentiated set aside cells retain the potential to divide
indefinitely and thus to build large structures (Davidson
et al., 1995; Peterson et al., 1997). However, different
mechanisms of differentiation can be evoked to explain the
reverted life cycle in T. nutricula: i.e. some differentiated
cells can also participate in polyp reconstruction, by the
activation of a process similar to metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis generally occurs in those species characterized by indirect development. During this period, in which
a larva transforms itself into an adult, degenerative as well as
apoptotic processes have been described for a wide range of
species: amphibians and insects represent good models for
this (Vogt, 1842; White et al., 1994; Truman, 1984; Sanders
and Wride, 1995). Apoptosis or programmed cell death is a
process fundamental for correct development as well as for
the maintenance of the organisms integrity by destroying
cells that are potentially harmful. This process may be important to redefine the body structure of the polyp generated
during the reverted life cycle of T. nutricula.
The present paper describes a morphological study of different stages during the reverted life cycle of T. nutricula,
giving evidence for degenerative and apoptotic processes, as
well as the capacity of the mature medusa to revert.

2.3. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Different stages of T. nutricula were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde and post-fixed in 1% OsO4 in FSW as described
above. They were dehydrated with acetone, desiccated with
a CO2 Critical Point Dryer 020 (Balzer, Liechtenstein), spattered with gold (Coated 040 Balzer) and observed under a
Philips XL50 scanning microscope.
2.4. Confocal microscopy
Different stages of T. nutricula were fixed in 4% buffered
paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraffin; 3-m thick
sections were analyzed by using FITC-conjugated lectins.
The following lectins were used (the concentrations and the
sugar specificities are given in brackets): Ulex europaeus
(40 g/ml, -fucose); Concanavlin-A (ConA; 40 g/ml,
mannose); Ricinus (2 g/ml, -gal). All lectins were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA).
Surface sugar localization was investigated by using a
Nikon PCM 2000 microscope (Nikon, Japan) with Plan
Fluor objectives (Nikon, Japan). Confocal microscopy was
performed utilizing a confocal laser scanning head Nikon
PCM 2000 based on a Nikon Eclipse 600 microscope. Acquisition and visualization are completely computer controlled through the EZ 2000 software (Coord-Nikon, The
Netherlands).

2. Materials and methods

2.5. Light microscopy
2.1. Sample
Hydrozoa colonies were collected by scuba diving near
the Cheradi Isles (Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Italy) during
late summer and autumn (from August to November) 1999.
Colonies were kept in aerated sea water and identified in the
laboratory by a stereoscope (Leica MZ12).
Fertile colonies of T. nutricula were isolated and kept
in filtered sea water (FSW) at 22 C. The newly generated
medusae were isolated and fed with Artemia naupli. Daily
changes of FSW were performed. Different stresses were
applied to verify the medusaes capacity to react by reorganizing itself into a polyp. Umbrella excision with scissors,
raising the temperature to 30 C for 30 min or oxygen reduction by adding to large a quantity of nauplia were applied.
2.2. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Different stages of T. nutricula fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde sea water solution for 2 h at ice temperature were
washed three times in FSW. Post-fixation was performed
with 1% OsO4 in FSW for 1 h. Samples were then washed
several times in FSW and dehydrated with increasing concentration of alcohol for 30 min each at room temperature, then embedded in epoxy resin. Ultra-thin sections were
stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and examined
under a Philips CM12 TEM.

Semi-thin sections from the same embedded TEM samples were stained with toluidine blue and silver staining.
For a better evaluation of apoptotic nuclei, silver staining of
sections was also performed, by using a mixture of silver
nitrate (3 m/ml) and hexamethylenetetramine (75 g/ml).

3. Results
Turritopis nutricula was able to survive after different
types of stress, by a reorganization of adult tissues into a juvenile form. The most reproducible stress able to trigger life
cycle reversion was the exposure of the medusae to higher
temperatures (30 C) than normal (22 C). Under these conditions, 80% of medusae activated life cycle reversion.
By means of stereoscopy observation, we identified four
easy to distinguish stages during the inverted life cycle
and we named them: healthy medusa, unhealthy medusa,
four-leaf clover and cyst. The light micrograph in Fig. 1
shows their very different macroscopic morphology.
Each stage had the following characteristics. The healthy
medusa had a bell-shaped umbrella with long tentacles and
swam actively (Fig. 2a). The unhealthy medusa was not able
to swim and maintained its tentacles in a retracted position;
the transparency typical of the normal healthy medusa was
lost (Fig. 3a). The four-leafed stage was characterized by the

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215

Fig. 1. Life cycle of Turritopsis nutricula: (a) healthy medusa; (b) unhealthy medusa; (c) four-leaf clover; (d) cyst; (e) polyp. The double arrow indicates
the point of reversion of the cycle.

absence of tentacles, by the reduction of the sub-umbrella

cavity which showed a number of lobes and many degenerative processes (Fig. 4a and b). The cyst stage had a spherical
shape and a smooth surface (Fig. 5a). It was able to attach
to the substrate and rapidly gave rise to a polyp morphologically similar to those generated during the normal life cycle.
By means of light, fluorescent, scanning and transmission electron microscopy the microscopic morphology of
the four stages was observed in order to analyze the morphological modifications occurring at cellular level. In the
healthy medusa (Fig. 2), a large sub-umbrella cavity with a
central manubrium was observed (Fig. 2a and b). The umbrella was delimited externally by an ectodermal layer, made
up of flat cells interconnected by tiny cytoplasmic protrusions (Fig. 2c, arrow). Mitochondria, glycogen droplets, and
rough and smooth endoplasmic reticula were abundant in
these cells. Epithelial muscle striated cells were detected as
well (Fig. 2d). The gonads and the gastric cavity in communication with the radial channels were recognized (Fig. 2e).
The ultrastructural investigation of the manubrium revealed
its highly complex organization, with many morphologically
different cytotypes: in particular, muscle cells with fibers radially oriented and glandular cells (Fig. 2f). Apoptotic cells
were also present in the manubrium (Fig. 2g and h).
In the unhealthy medusa (Fig. 3), the tentacles and
sub-umbrella cavity were reduced. The umbrella cells

showed many large empty vacuoles (Fig. 3c); many sarcomeres and mitochondria were still present in the epithelial
muscle cells, although a dramatic alteration of their morphology was observed (Fig. 3d). Even more modifications
were revealed in the manubrium: cells lost cellular contacts
but maintained their junctional contacts (Fig. 3e, arrowhead). The ectodermal cells had few cytoplasmic organelles;
endodermal cells were round; large electron dense vacuoles
were present in their cytoplasm (Fig. 3f). Some of these
cells showed clear signs of degeneration (Fig. 3g), probably
due to lytic phenomena, while other cells showed typical
features of apoptosis (Fig. 3h and i), However, the number
of apoptotic cells was lower than in the healthy medusa
(Table 1). Intracellular content and mesoglea were lost.
In the four-leaf clover stage (Fig. 4), the morphological
damage described for the unhealthy medusa became more
evident. Indeed, stress induced the total disappearance of
Table 1
Apoptosis and necrosis rate in the different stages of reverted life cycle
Stage

Apoptosis (%)

Necrosis (%)

Healthy
Unhealthy
Four-leaf clover
Cyst

+++
+
++++
+++

+
+
++

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tentacles (Fig. 4a) and a further regression of the umbrella,

delimiting an irregular and more restricted sub-umbrella cavity (Fig. 4b). Some of the umbrella cells had a round shape
and maintained cellular contacts (Fig. 4c), while other cells
were highly damaged showing many empty vacuoles inside the cytoplasm (Fig. 4d). The apoptotic rate was higher
growing (Fig. 4e and Table 1). Conversely, the muscle cells,
with radially oriented fibers (Fig. 4e, arrow), and the gonads
(Fig. 4f) were morphologically unchanged.
The medusae that lost all tentacles and the sub-umbrella
cavity that became spherical were defined cysts (Fig. 5).
Under SEM, this type showed a smooth and regular surface (Fig. 5a). Light microscopy observation revealed a
two-layered spherical structure (Fig. 5b). The external cell
layer mainly consisted of two different cytotypes, which
were regularly distributed along the surface. In Fig. 5b, it
is possible to distinguish cells (probably gland cells gc,
mainly localized in the lower left part of the cyst) with
many fenestrae and a lesser quantity of small cytoplasmic
inclusions; cells rich in cytoplasmatic inclusions (probably
zymogenic cells, zc) were mainly concentrated in the
upper part of the cyst. The probable initial outline of the
stolon, seen as a protrusion of the left part of the cyst, is
shown in Fig. 5b (asterisk). In contrast, the internal layer
had a less regular organization and a great number of morphologically different cells could be recognized. A specific
spatial distribution, probably related to the intense reorganization of this stage, was observed for cells containing a
large number of zymogenic granules in the cytoplasm. The
cells surrounding the stolons outline are packed extremely
tightly. These cells are probably involved in the process
of stolon formation. The ultrastructural TEM investigation
showed that the cells of the external layer re-established
contacts (Fig. 5c and d) lost during the previous stages. The
fenestrate cells of the superficial layer are in contact with
each other and are divided from the inner cellular layer of
the cyst by compact and homogeneous substances, probably
mesoglea (Fig. 5c, mes). Interaction among cells was seen
to resume in the inner layer of the cyst, while isolated cells
could still be recognized in the cyst center (Fig. 5e). Many
of these cells showed condensed chromatin, as evidenced
by silver staining (Fig. 5f) and confirmed by TEM observation (Fig. 5g), thus indicating the presence of an intense
apoptotic rate. Gonads (Fig. 5i) were also present at this
stage as well as muscle tissue (Fig. 5h) in the cysts with
budding stolons.
By using FITC-conjugated lectins, we studied saccharide
residue exposure on T. nutricula cell surfaces during the
polyp, healthy medusa and unhealthy medusa stages. Sig-

217

nificant differences between the healthy and the unhealthy

medusae were observed (Fig. 6). ConA, Ricinus communis
and Ulex binding sites were found in all the studied stages,
but differences in distribution and fluorescence intensity
were observed by a confocal microscope. Fluorescence was
quite intense in the gonads of unhealthy medusae while the
gonads of healthy medusae were labeled to a much lesser degree. The cells lining the radial channels were also strongly
labeled and the labeling increased in the unhealthy medusae.
In the umbrella, the cells of healthy medusae showed faint
labeling with small scattered clusters of fluorescence. Conversely, the labeling increased in the unhealthy medusae as
did the number of fluorescent spots. The labeling observed
in the polyp was homogeneously distributed throughout the
tissues, with fluorescence intensity comparable to that of the
healthy medusa.

4. Discussion
The uncommon life cycle of T. nutricula involves the
transformation of an adult medusa to a polyp, which some
authors consider a juvenile stage (Boero et al., 1997). This
event represents a reverted development involving a crucial
process characterized by drastic modifications, comparable
to a sort of metamorphosis. During metamorphosis a large
part of the cell population acquires the fully differentiated
characteristics of adult cells (Truman, 1984; Weis and Buss,
1987). Furthermore, this process, occurring in many vertebrate and invertebrate species, is often accompanied by degenerative and apoptotic processes, well described for the
resorption of amphibian tail (Sanders and Wride, 1995).
Our ultrastructural study of cellular modifications during
the life cycle reversion of T. nutricula has shown the presence of both degenerative and apoptotic processes. Degeneration is prevalent during the stages of unhealthy medusa
and four-leaf clover, while apoptotic rate is high during the
stages of healthy medusa and cyst. The presence, even in the
healthy medusa, of apoptotic events is not surprising due to
its role in preserving cellular homeostasis in the majority of
animals (Wyllie et al., 1980; Gupta, 1996). Apoptosis also
plays an important role in many developmental processes,
such as cell differentiation, oogenesis (Sommer et al., 1998),
organogenesis, as well as in the establishment of body structures (Jacobson et al., 1997; Sanders and Wride, 1995). The
existence of apoptosis and its morphogenetic role during
body reorganization (from larva to polyp) of Hydractinia
echinata was first described by Seipp et al. (2001). In T.
nutriculas reverted life cycle, the presence of degenerative

Fig. 2. Healthy medusa. (a) Stereoscopic image of a medusa, showing the section plane of panel b; (b) semi-thin section of a medusa stained with
toluidine blue (magnification 20); (c) umbrella cells with tiny touching protrusions (arrow) (magnification 6500); (d) epithelial and muscle cells with
clearly visible sarcomeres (arrow) (magnification 7000); (e) semi-thin section of manubrium showing gonads; (f) high magnification of gonads at E.M.
(magnification 5000); (g) manubrium cells, gl a glandular cell, mc transversal section of muscle cell (magnification 3000); (h) apoptotic cell (the
nucleus with condensed chromatin) inside the manubrium (magnification 5000).

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219

Fig. 4. (a) SEM micrograph of a four-leafed medusa showing the absence of tentacles (magnification 2000); (b) stereoscopic image of a four-leafed
medusa; (c) round-shaped cells (magnification 3000); (d) extensive vacuolization of ectodermal cells (magnification 2000); (e) apoptotic cell (asterisk)
and radially sectioned muscle fibers (arrow) (magnification 3000); (f) gonads (magnification 2000).

Fig. 3. Unhealthy medusa. (a) Stereoscopic image of an unhealthy medusa; (b) SEM micrograph of an unhealthy medusa showing the retraction of
tentacles (magnification 2000); (c) manubrium cells showing two cells that have began to detach (arrow) (magnification 4000); (d) umbrella cells with
a damaged cytoplasm. An epithelial muscle cell shows a reduction of the striated fibers (arrows) (magnification 4500); (e) ectodermal manubrium cells;
the cytoplasm has no intracellular organelles (magnification 5000); (f) endodermal manubrium cells with cytoplasm rich in electron dense granules
(magnification 3500); (g) endodermal manubrium cells. The cells are round and have lost contact with each other. Some show signs of necrosis (asterisk)
(magnification 5000); (h) and (i) apoptotic cells inside the manubrium; h: initial stage of apoptosis with chromatin condensation and enlarged nuclear
cisternae (magnification 5000); i: late/necrotic stage of apoptosis (magnification 6500).

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Fig. 6. Confocal images of Turritopsis nutricula (polyp, healthy and unhealthy medusa stages) sections labeled with fluorescent FITC-conjugated lectins.

as well as apoptotic processes supports our idea that this

inversion is a sort of metamorphosis, utilized to reorganize
body structure.
The cyst stage appears the most intriguing stage of the
entire reverted cycle of T. nutricula; this stage has a mor-

phological organization similar to that of the planula larva:

cells are organized in two different layers. Therefore, it could
be hypothesized that cellular modifications (degeneration,
apoptosis and differentiation) during the cyst stage are similar to those characterizing the physiological metamorphosis

Fig. 5. (a) SEM micrograph of a cyst showing the almost smooth surface (magnification 3000); (b) semi-thin section of a cyst. Two cellular layers are
shown. On the external layer the outline of the stolon is visible (see Section 3 for details) (magnification 1500); (c) TEM micrograph of fenestrated cells
of the external layer. Mesoglea can be seen (mes) (magnification 3000); (d) vacuolated and isolated cells of the central part of the cyst (magnification
2000); (e) an apoptotic cell in secondary necrosis in the central part of the cyst (magnification 2000); (f) silver methenamine staining of a cyst.
Many nuclei with condensed (apoptotic) chromatin are visible, in particular in the central region; (g) TEM micrograph of fenestrated cells of the external
layer with an intact and beam-shaped nucleus (magnification 2000); (h) differentiated muscle cells with clearly visible sarcomeres in the part of the
cyst which is budding the stolon (magnification 2000); (i) gonads (magnification 2000).

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from planula to polyp; it follows that the cyst stage is not a

quiescent stage but more likely the most active one; indeed,
the high apoptotic rate could be a mechanism for cell selection, necessary for body reorganization and the development
of polyp tissues and structures.
Apoptotic process described in healthy medusae and in
the other stages, mainly cyst, may have different purposes.
In the healthy medusa, apoptosis is the normal process to
maintain cellular homeostasis; conversely in the cyst, apoptosis leads to dramatic body reorganization, a process similar
to what has previously been described for higher animals,
such as Drosophila (Jiang et al., 1997) or amphibians (Tata,
1993), in which apoptosis is used to remove typical larval
features, while simultaneously preserving those cells that
build up adult structures. Intriguing are the data concerning
the permanence of gonads throughout all stages. This represents clear evidence that both the young and the mature
medusa is able to revert its life cycle; further studies are
in progress to investigate their potential involvement in the
reconstruction of polyp structure.
Cellular morphological modifications that take place during the reversion of the life cycle of T. nutricula underline,
of course, the various biochemical and molecular changes
affecting all compartments of the cell. This idea is supported
by the data obtained with a confocal microscope and reported here concerning the analysis of the distribution of
lectin-binding sites. With this instrument many thin sections
through the sample were analyzed and very clean images
obtained by a virtual elimination of out-of-focus fluorescence, thus increasing clarity and contrast within the images (Diaspro, 2002). The high exposure of surface sugar
residues was observed in the unhealthy medusa, thus indicating that reorganization of the cell surface takes place during
this stage, most likely in order to abolish cellular contacts
and prepare the cellular reorganization of the cyst stage.
In conclusion, the presence of degenerative as well as
apoptotic processes, during the reverted life cycle of T. nutricula have been shown. These morphological data support
the idea that when a medusa transforms itself into a polyp,
a sort of metamorphosis occurs.
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