Regeneration by dissociated adult Hydra cells: a histologic study

Adult Hydra attenuata with vitally stained gastrodermal cells were dissociated into their component cells which were then randomly reaggregated into pellets by low-speed centrifugation. Representative examples of these preparations, which develop into normal adult hydra if left undisturbed, were examined fresh at low magnification and at higher magnification in fixed, stained, and sectioned specimens. The actual pellet stage lasts less than 1 hour because the adult ectodermal and gastrodermal cells rapidly sort themselves into an inner and outer layer and seem to secrete a new mesoglea immediately thereafter. The "embryo" becomes trilaminar and attains a central cavity by extruding a large amount of cellular debris at the end of the first day. At about this same time, new tentacles begin to differentiate from rapidly dividing and undifferentiated interstitial cells. Regulation of tentacle number and position occurs at the end of two days, and the body form is essentially reestablished within 60 hours by further differentiation of the hypostomes and body wall. Complete separation of the preparation into individual polyps does not occur until about 190 hours of development.