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SPERM BUNDLE‐FEMALE SOMATIC CELL INTERACTION IN THE FERTILIZATION PROCESS OF VOLVOX CARTERI F. WEISMANNIA (CHLOROPHYTA) 1
Author(s) -
Coggin Steven J.,
Hutt William,
Kochert Gary
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-3646.1979.00247.x
Subject(s) - biology , sperm , human fertilization , somatic cell , trypsin , microbiology and biotechnology , spheroid , gamete , kunitz sti protease inhibitor , andrology , botany , anatomy , genetics , biochemistry , enzyme , in vitro , medicine , gene
We studied the fertilization reaction in Volvox carter f. weismannia (Powers) Iyengar. Tests for a sperm bundle chemoattractant produced by female spheroids were negative. The flagella of the female spheroid were identified as the site of sperm bundle binding. Treatment of female spheroids with trypsin or protease blocked sperm bundle binding, suggesting surface proteins are involved. Sperm bundle binding is not affected by female spheroid age up to 64 h after inversion of the female spheroid. Soybean trypsin inhibitor prevents fertilization pore formation. This suggests that a trypsin‐like enzyme, released by the dissociating sperm bundle, is responsible for fertilization pore formation.