Whole-Mount In Situ Hybridization in Large Sexual Schmidtea mediterranea

Abstract

Whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH), colorimetric or fluorescent (FISH), allows for the visualization of endogenous RNA. For planarians, robust WISH protocols exist for small-sized animals (>5 mm) of the model species Schmidtea mediterranea and Dugesia japonica. However, the sexual strain of Schmidtea mediterranea studied for germline development and function reaches much larger body sizes in excess of 2 cm. The existing whole-mount WISH protocols are not optimal for such large specimens, owing to insufficient tissue permeabilization. Here, we describe a robust WISH protocol for 12-16 mm long sexually mature Schmidtea mediterranea individuals that could serve as a starting point for adapting WISH to other large planarian species.

Keywords: Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH); Permeabilization; Planarian; Schmidtea mediterranea; Sexual strain; Size; Whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH).