Aluminum (Al) is one of the most widely applied metals in various industries. Anthropogenic activities of industrial waste result in increased accumulation of Al in natural water resources and aqueous organisms, leading to increased heavy metal pollution in the environment. This will ultimately associate with health risks to all living beings including humans. The present study addresses the possible toxic effects of Al on the motility and regeneration of planarians, using Dugesia japonica as the experimental animal model. Planarians were exposed to varying concentrations of Al (50–1,200 mg/L) for 1 hr, and subsequently evaluated for their motility, seizure-like behaviors, regeneration and alterations of the cell-organelles in their body. Results of the study exhibit that increasing Al concentrations lead to decreased motility and increased seizure-like behaviors, especially the c-type and head bob behaviors in planarians (p<0.05). The regeneration ability in the tail segments was reduced by increased Al concentrations, and the eyespot and optic nerves were more clearly observed in the control groups than planarians exposed to Al. Organelle analysis revealed morphological abnormalities in the mitochondria, golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, and cilia in the head region of planarians, as compared to the control groups. Taken together, our results indicate that exposure to Al alters the behavior of planarians and delays the regeneration of amputated body parts. Therefore, we suggest that Al exposure adversely can affect the lives of aquatic organisms, and induce toxicity such as cell abnormalities in animals.

Introduction
Materials and Methods
    Animals
    Preparation of Al solution
    Measurement of motility and seizure-like behaviorpatterns
    Transmission electron microscopy
    Regeneration assay
    Whole-mount immunohistochemistry
    Statistical analysis
Results
    Al induces decreased motility and seizure-like behaviorin planarians
    Al delays the eye regeneration of planarians
    Organelle morphology was changed in planariansexposed to Al
Discussion
References

• Yong-Jin Kim(Division of Biotechnology, College of Environmental & Bioresource Sciences, Jeonbuk National University)
• Yeon-Hwa Kim(Laboratory of Veterinary Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University)
• A. A. Dilki Indrachapa Adikari(Department of Agricultural Education, College of Education, Sunchon National University)
• Young-Joo Yi(Department of Agricultural Education, College of Education, Sunchon National University) Corresponding author
• Sang-Myeong Lee(Laboratory of Veterinary Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) Corresponding author