Research Center for Marine Biology, Asamushi, Graduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University Asamushi, Aomori 039-3501, Japan.
Department of Biology, Miyagi University of Education, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0845, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2014 Aug 1;450(3):1188-94. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.06.056. Epub 2014 Jun 19.
Fertilization is such a universal and indispensable step in sexual reproduction, but a high degree of variability exists in the way it takes place in the animal kingdom. As discussed in other reviews in this issue, recent works on this subject clarified many points. However, important results on the mechanisms of fertilization are obtained mainly from a few restricted model organisms. In this sense, it is utterly important to collect more information from various phyla. In this review, we have re-introduced Annelida as one of the most suitable models for the analysis of fertilization process. We have briefly reviewed the historical works on the fertilization of Annelida. Then, we have described recent findings on the two independent Ca(2+) increases in the fertilized eggs of Annelida, which arise from two different mechanisms and may have distinct physiological roles toward sperm entry and egg activation. We propose that the Ca(2+) increase in the fertilized eggs reflect the specific needs of the zygote in a given species.
受精是有性生殖中如此普遍和不可或缺的一步，但在动物王国中，它的发生方式存在高度的可变性。正如本期其他评论中所讨论的，关于这个主题的最新研究工作澄清了许多要点。然而，受精机制的重要结果主要是从少数几种受限的模式生物中获得的。从这个意义上说，从各种门收集更多的信息是非常重要的。在这篇综述中，我们重新将环节动物作为分析受精过程的最合适模型之一。我们简要回顾了环节动物受精的历史工作。然后，我们描述了最近在环节动物受精卵中出现的两个独立的 Ca(2+)增加的发现，这两个 Ca(2+)增加来自两种不同的机制，可能对精子进入和卵激活有不同的生理作用。我们提出，受精卵中的 Ca(2+)增加反映了特定物种中合子的特定需求。
