PUBLICATION

The Ly6/uPAR protein Bouncer is necessary and sufficient for species-specific fertilization

Authors
Herberg, S., Gert, K.R., Schleiffer, A., Pauli, A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-180908-2
Date
2018
Source
Science (New York, N.Y.)   361: 1029-1033 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Herberg, Sarah, Pauli, Andrea
Keywords
none
Datasets
GEO:GSE111882
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Female
  • Male
  • Mutation
  • Oocytes/metabolism
  • Oryzias/genetics
  • Oryzias/physiology
  • Species Specificity
  • Sperm-Ovum Interactions*
  • Testis/metabolism
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/physiology*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/physiology*
PubMed
30190407 Full text @ Science
Abstract
Fertilization is fundamental for sexual reproduction, yet its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We found that an oocyte-expressed Ly6/uPAR protein, which we call Bouncer, is a crucial fertilization factor in zebrafish. Membrane-bound Bouncer mediates sperm-egg binding and is thus essential for sperm entry into the egg. Remarkably, Bouncer not only is required for sperm-egg interaction but is also sufficient to allow cross-species fertilization between zebrafish and medaka, two fish species that diverged more than 200 million years ago. Our study thus identifies Bouncer as a key determinant of species-specific fertilization in fish. Bouncer's closest homolog in tetrapods, SPACA4, is restricted to the male germline in internally fertilizing vertebrates, which suggests that our findings in fish have relevance to human biology.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Show all Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping