[Regulation of asexual reproduction in the planarian Dugesia tigrina]

We studied asexual reproduction of planarians under the natural and artificial photoperiodic conditions. It was shown that light inhibits the fission of planarians, while darkness stimulates it. The diurnal dynamics of the fission of planarians demonstrated a circadian rhythm. This rhythm is stable, which is expressed when the conditions are experimentally changed: constant darkness, unnatural rhythm of light-darkness succession). However, this stability is affected at the time zone change. The planarians are adapted to new conditions and begin to fission at once in correspondence with the new diurnal regime.