Regeneration in many animals involves the formation of a blastema, which differentiates and organizes into the appropriate missing body parts. Although the mechanisms underlying blastema formation are often fundamental to regeneration biology, information on the cellular and molecular basis of blastema formation remains limited. Here, we focus on a fragmenting potworm (Enchytraeus japonensis), which can regenerate its whole body from small fragments. We find soxC and mmpReg as upregulated genes in the blastema. RNAi of soxC and mmpReg reduce the number of blastema cells, indicating that soxC and mmpReg promote blastema formation. Expression analyses show that soxC-expressing cells appear to gradually accumulate in blastema and constitute a large part of the blastema. Additionally, similar expression dynamics of SoxC orthologue genes in frog (Xenopus laevis) are found in the regeneration blastema of tadpole tail. Our findings provide insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying blastema formation across species.

许多动物的再生涉及胚层的形成，胚层瘤分化并组织成适当的缺失身体部位。尽管 blastema 形成的机制通常是再生生物学的基础，但关于 blastema 形成的细胞和分子基础的信息仍然有限。在这里，我们重点介绍一种碎片化的锅虫 （Enchytraeus japonensis），它可以从小碎片中再生整个身体。我们发现 soxC 和 mmpReg 是胚层中上调的基因。soxC 和 mmpReg 的 RNAi 减少胚芽细胞的数量，表明 soxC 和 mmpReg 促进胚果形成。表达分析表明，表达 soxC 的细胞似乎逐渐在 blastema 中积累，并构成了 blastema 的很大一部分。此外，在蝌蚪尾巴的再生胚中发现了青蛙 （Xenopus laevis） 中 SoxC 直系同源基因的类似表达动态。我们的研究结果为跨物种胚芽肿形成的细胞和分子机制提供了见解。