The Genetics and Cell Biology of Fertilization - Caenorhabditis Elegans: Molecular Genetics and Development - page 342

Table I
Genes required for fertilization and egg activation in C. elegans.

Gene Protein Localization Reference

Fertilization
spe-9 Single-pass transmembrane

protein with 10 EGF repeats

Spermatozoa
Pseudopod

Singson et al. (1998)

spe-38 Novel four-pass integral

membrane protein

Spermatozoa
Pseudopod

Chatterjee et al. (2005)

spe-41/trp-3 TRPC channel subunit Spermatozoa plasma membrane Xu and Sternberg (2003)

spe-42 Novel seven-pass integral

membrane protein

Unknown Kroft et al. (2005)

egg-1/2 Type-II transmembrane protein

with LDL-receptor repeats

Oocyte plasma membrane Kadandale et al. (2005b)

Egg activation
spe-11 Soluble protein Perinuclear in sperm Browning and Strome (1996)

egg-3 Protein tyrosine phosphatase-

like (PTPL)

Oocyte cortex Maruyama et al. (2007)

egg-4/5 Protein tyrosine phosphatase-

like (PTPL)

Oocyte cortex Parry et al. (2009)

Fig. 3 Gamete morphology. (A) In vitro pronase-activated male-derived sperm. (B) Hermaphrodite
dissection showing relative size of in vivo activated sperm and oocyte. The oocyte (black arrow) is
approximately 160 times the volume of the sperm (white arrow). Bars = 10 m m