Peter Ladurner

TL;DR: It is shown that zebrafish hen1 is specifically expressed in germ cells and is essential for maintaining a female germ line, whereas it is dispensable in the testis, and the existence of a uridylation‐mediated 3′–5′ exonuclease activity acting on piRNAs inZebrafish germ cells, which is counteracted by nuage‐bound Hen1 protein is suggested.

TL;DR: This is the first study that unambiguously shows phenotypically plastic sex allocation in response to mating group size in a simultaneous hermaphrodite and suggests the shift to higher male allocation in larger mating groups predicted by sex allocation theory.

TL;DR: The small size, with only about 25 000 cells constituting the major bilaterian organ systems, makes this simultaneous hermaphrodite a possible candidate for a new model organism that is phylogenetically more basal than any of the model organisms currently used in such studies within the Bilateria.

TL;DR: The idea of platyhelminth neoblasts as an unparalleled stem-cell system within the Animal Kingdom calling for further investigation is strengthened.

TL;DR: The results corroborate the exclusive nature of the flatworm stem cell system but challenge the concept of a solely postembryonic specification of the germ line in Platyhelminthes.