Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
I. General Introduction/Background
Successful fertilization is fundamentally important to a sexually reproducing
species and requires a series of well-coordinated events including gamete activation,
recognition, signaling, adhesion, and fusion ( Primakoff and Myles, 2002; Singson
et al., 2001; Wassarman, 1999 ). Although our current understanding of these pro-
cesses comes largely from work in marine invertebrates and vertebrate model
systems, Caenorhabditis elegans has emerged as another powerful system for fer-
tilization studies ( Nishimura and L ' Hernault, 2010; Singson, 2001; Singson et al.,
2008; Yamamoto et al., 2006 ).
Fertilization in C. elegans takes place in the spermatheca, the site of sperm storage in
the hermaphrodite. The hermaphrodite reproductive tract consists of a bilobed gonad
( Fig. 1A ) in which a separate spermatheca connects each lobe to the shared uterus (the
male gonad is single-lobed [ Fig. 1B ]). Within the hermaphrodite gonad, both gamete
types are produced in a sequential manner. Spermare produced first during the last larval
stage of development and stored in the spermatheca. The gonad switches to oocyte
production in the adult hermaphrodite. Oocytes undergo meiotic maturation as they
Fig. 1 C. elegans adult gonads. (A) Hermaphrodite gonad showing general scheme of oocyte devel-
opment. (B) Male gonad showing general scheme of spermatogenesis.
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