# Mansi Srivastava Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Curator of Invertebrate Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology Co-Chair of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology ![Mansi Srivistava with long, brown hair wearing a green blouse, in front of grey background](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/oeb/files/mansi_srivastava_crop.jpeg?itok=mC5t4f8j) location\_on Northwest Building, 52 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138 smartphone [617-495-0569](tel:617-495-0569) email laptop\_windows [Srivastava Lab](http://www.srivastavalab.org/) Faculty Support: [Patricia Fuentes-Cross](/people/patricia-fuentes-cross) All animals begin life as totipotent zygotes, single cells that have the capacity to produce all the tissues of the adult animal. This totipotency becomes restricted over time, with embryonic cells becoming progressively less potent as development proceeds, however, the timing and extent of this loss of potency varies across species. Humans, mice, and other mammals begin as resilient embryos, with cells that can produce many adult cell types and that can recover from damage; yet the adult animals produced by these embryos lack highly potent (pluripotent) cells and correspondingly they show limited regenerative abilities. In contrast, many invertebrate species have highly regenerative adult animals that are able to produce all cell types lost to damage because of the presence of adult pluripotent stem cells (aPSCs). We seek to explain these evolutionary patterns by studying how regeneration and stem cells work in adult animals and also how these processes are established or demolished during embryonic development. We have developed the three-banded panther worm, *Hofstenia miamia*, as a new model acoel species for studies of regeneration and development. Acoels are likely to be the earliest lineage of animals with bilateral symmetry (bilaterians), and are therefore phylogenetically well-placed to inform questions about the evolution of regenerative mechanisms. We are using the many advantages of *H. miamia* as a laboratory research organism (*e.g.*, robust regeneration capacity, RNAi that can be administered by soaking, tools for studying gene function, ability to label, trace, and isolate stem cells) to identify genes that control regeneration and pluripotency. *H. miamia* produces accessible embryos that enable comparisons of regeneration and development, and provide a unique opportunity to use gene-delivery and genome-editing tools to study regeneration. Our work is embedded in comparative biology. Our studies complement those in other regenerative systems and enable us to identify conserved mechanisms as well as those that have evolved independently across animal lineages. #### Upcoming Articles and Preprints A. Rock‡ and **M. Srivastava**. Totipotency and high plasticity in an embryo with a stereotyped, invariant cleavage program. *BioRxiv*, DOI:10.1101/2025.02.12.637942, 2025. A. Kann† and **M. Srivastava**. Cooperation between proximate cell layers drives large-scale wound closure prior to whole-body regeneration. *BioRxiv*, DOI:10.1101/2025.02.03.636261, 2025. Y. Duan†, J.G. Ruby, I. Veksler-Lublinsky, V. Ambros, and **M. Srivastava**. Identification and developmental profiling of microRNAs in the acoel worm. *BioRxiv*, DOI:10.1101/2024.12.01.626237, 2024. C. Breen‡ and **M. Srivastava**. A spreading, multi-tissue wound signal initiates whole-body regeneration. *BioRxiv*, DOI:10.1101/2024.12.10.627832, 2024. K. Loubet-Senear‡ and **M. Srivastava**. Regeneration recapitulates many embryonic processes, including reuse of developmental regulatory regions. *BioRxiv*, DOI:10.1101/2024.07.04.601589, 2024. D.M. Bolaños Rodriguez†, N. Ros i Rocher†, J. Sikes†, and **M. Srivastava**. PCP components control anterior and posterior regeneration, with a prickle homolog impacting muscle organization, in the acoel *Hofstenia miamia*. *BioRxiv*, DOI:10.1101/2023.10.03.560791, 2023. #### Original Research Articles P. Bump†, K. Loubet-Senear‡, **M. Srivastava.** Chromatin profiling data indicate regulatory mechanisms for differentiation during development in the acoel *Hofstenia miamia.* *Development*, 152(10):dev204799, 2025. V. Chandra†, S. Tseng∗, A. Kann†, D.M. Bola˜nos Rodriguez†, **M. Srivastava**. Developmental, regenerative, and behavioral dynamics in acoel reproduction. *eLife*, 14:RP105712, 2025. F.D. Price, M.N. Matyas, A.R. Gehrke‡, W. Chen, E.A. Wolin, W. Chen, K.M. Holton, R.M. Gibbs, A. Lee, P. Singu, J. Sakakeeny, J.M. Poteracki, K. Goune, I.T. Pfeiffer, S.A. Boswell, P.K. Sorger, **M. Srivastava**, K.L. Pfaff, E. Gussoni, S.M. Buchanan, L.L. Rubin. Organoid culture promotes dedifferentiation of mouse myoblasts into stem cells capable of complete muscle regeneration. *Nature Biotechnology*, DOI:10.1038/s41587-024-02344-7, 2024. R.E. Hulett‡, C. Rivera-Lopez‡, A.R. Gehrke†, A. Gompers∗, and **M. Srivastava**. A wounding-induced differentiation trajectory for neurons. *Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci*., 121:e2322864121, 2024. R.E. Hulett‡, J.O. Kimura‡, D.M. Bolaños Rodriguez†, Y-J. Luo†, C. Rivera-Lopez‡, and **M. Srivastava**. Acoel single cell atlas reveals expression dynamics and heterogeneity of a pluripotent stem cell population. *Nature Communications*, 14:2612, 2023. J.O. Kimura, D.M. Bolanos Rodriguez, L. Ricci, and **M. Srivastava**. Embryonic origins of adult pluripotent stem cells. *Cell*, 185:4756-4769, 2022. #### Books, Book Chapters, Reviews A. Rock‡ and **M. Srivastava**. The gain and loss of plasticity during development and evolution. *Trends in Cell Biology*, S0962-8924(25)00030-3, 2025. B.D. Ozpolat, S. Arur, and **M. Srivastava**. A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology. *Development*, 152(2):dev204605, 2025. K. Loubet-Senear‡ and **M. Srivastava**. Brittle star genome provides information on the evolution of regeneration. *Nat. Eco. Evo*., 8:1385–1386, 2024. B. Goldstein and **M. Srivastava**. Emerging model systems in developmental biology. *Curr. Top. Dev. Biol*., Special Issue Book, 2022. **M. Srivastava**. Studying development, regeneration, stem cells, and more in the acoel *Hofstenia miamia*. *Curr. Top. Dev. Biol*., 147:153–172, 2022. † Srivastava Lab postdoctoral or other trainee. ‡ Srivastava Lab graduate student. ∗ Srivastava Lab undergraduate student. - ## Building [Northwest Labs](/building/northwest-labs) - ## Lab Group [Srivastava Lab Members](/lab-group/srivastava-lab) - ## People [Faculty](/people/faculty) [Department Faculty](/people/department-faculty) - ## Research Areas [Evolution](/research-areas/evolution) [Biodiversity & Systematics](/research-areas/biodiversity-and-systematics) [Evolutionary Developmental Biology](/research-areas/evolutionary-developmental-biology) [Mathematical & Computational Biology](/research-areas/mathematical-computational-biology) - ## Search by Last Name [Q-T](/search-last-name/q-t)