Some flatworms can regrown body parts when injured. In the lab, you can sever the tail or head off of such a flatworm and it will regenerate completely. The cells involved in this regeneration are rapidly dividing, and thus, must likely have high expression (levels) of:  a.) telomerase b.)helicase c.) ribosomes d.) topoisomerase I had thought the correct answer was helicase, since it pulls apart strands of DNA, which is useful for rapid replication, but this was the wrong answer.  Please help/explain!  Thanks!

Concepts of Biology
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ISBN:9781938168116
Author:Samantha Fowler, Rebecca Roush, James Wise
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Chapter10: Biotechnology
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Problem 10CTQ: What is the purpose and benefit of the polymerase chain reaction?
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Some flatworms can regrown body parts when injured. In the lab, you can sever the tail or head off of such a flatworm and it will regenerate completely. The cells involved in this regeneration are rapidly dividing, and thus, must likely have high expression (levels) of: 

a.) telomerase

b.)helicase

c.) ribosomes

d.) topoisomerase

I had thought the correct answer was helicase, since it pulls apart strands of DNA, which is useful for rapid replication, but this was the wrong answer.  Please help/explain!  Thanks!

Expert Solution
Step 1

The ability of an organism to regenerate amputated body parts is known as regeneration. There are two types of regenerations – reparative and restorative. The ability to repair or regenerate only the damaged part of the body is termed as reparative regeneration. The regeneration of the whole body from a body segment is called restorative regeneration.

Step 2

Telomeres are the repetitive nucleotide sequences present at the terminal end of chromosomes. Telomeres, along with proteins (TRF1 and TRF2), cap the chromosome end and prevent DNA loss during replication. In most sexually reproducing eukaryotes, the telomeres are maintained in the germline and early embryogenesis. The telomere elongation is achieved only through sexual reproduction, and they are shortened gradually during cellular aging.

The telomerase enzymes catalyze the addition of telomere repeat sequences at the 3' end of telomeres. They are highly active in rapidly dividing cells and cancer cells. Asexually reproducing organisms like planaria (flatworm) have highly active telomerase enzymes, and the telomere length is maintained during fission or regeneration.

 Therefore, option (a) is correct

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