ZP domain proteins in the abalone egg coat include a paralog of VERL under positive selection that binds lysin and 18-kDa sperm proteins.

ABSTRACT: Identifying fertilization molecules is key to our understanding of reproductive biology, yet only a few examples of interacting sperm and egg proteins are known. One of the best characterized comes from the invertebrate archeogastropod abalone (Haliotis spp.), where sperm lysin mediates passage through the protective egg vitelline envelope (VE) by binding to the VE protein vitelline envelope receptor for lysin (VERL). Rapid adaptive divergence of abalone lysin and VERL are an example of positive selection on interacting fertilization proteins contributing to reproductive isolation. Previously, we characterized a subset of the abalone VE proteins that share a structural feature, the zona pellucida (ZP) domain, which is common to VERL and the egg envelopes of vertebrates. Here, we use additi

SUBMITTER: Aagaard JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2877556 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature