Biology of Fertilization V3

The Fertilization Response of the Egg is the third and final volume of the Biology of Fertilization which provides a detailed discussion of the responses of the egg to the fertilizing sperm, collectively called as the activation of the egg. It is an anthology of physiological articles written by biology and physiology professionals.

The book is divided into 12 chapters, half of which focused on the sea urchin egg fertilization, as it is the most studied form. The first two chapters cover the discussions on the first visible egg responses to fertilization and the formation of the fertilization membrane. The following chapter describes the relationship of sperm entry into the amphibian egg and the establishment of the symmetry of the embryo. Other chapters focus on the electrical and ionic changes of the egg plasma membrane and cytoplasm. The remaining parts of the book describe the synthetic activities in the egg that are initiated during fertilization. These include description of DNA and maternal RNA syntheses, nuclear-cytoplasm interactions, protein synthesis during oogenesis and early embryogenesis, and the expression of maternal messenger RNA.

The book is an excellent reference for undergraduate and graduate biology students, specifically in physiology, embryogenesis, and developmental biology. It can also be an invaluable source of information for lecturers and professionals in biology.

Contenu

Contributors
Foreword
Preface
Contents of Other Volumes

1. Functions of Egg Cortical Granules
   I. Introduction
   II. The Cortex of the Egg
   III. Structure and Chemical Composition of Cortical Granules
   IV. Secretory Functions of Cortical Granules
   V. Conclusion
   References
2. The Formation of the Fertilization Membrane of the Sea Urchin Egg
   I. Introduction
   II. Historical Perspective
   III. Fertilization Membrane Morphology
   IV. Fertilization Membrane Precursors
   V. Assembly of the Fertilization Membrane
   VI. Summary and Conclusions
   References
3. Sperm Penetration and the Establishment of the Dorsal-Ventral Polarity of the Amphibian Egg
   I. Introduction
   II. Organization of the Egg Cytoplasm Prior to Fertilization
   III. The Fertilization Reaction
   IV. The Appearance of the Gray Crescent
   V. Experimental Perturbation of the Fertile Egg's Pattern of Bilateral Symmetry
   VI. Concluding Remarks
   References
4. The Role of Calcium Explosions, Waves, and Pulses in Activating Eggs
   I. All Eggs Can Be Artificially Activated by Raising Their Cytosolic Calcium
   II. Medaka Eggs Are Activated by a Traveling Internal Calcium Explosion
   III. Sea Urchin Eggs Are Apparently Activated by a Very Similar Explosion
   IV. All Deuterostome Eggs May be Activated by a Traveling Internal Calcium Explosion
   V. Protostome Eggs
   VI. The Accessory Roles of pH
   VII. The Consequences of Calcium Pulses in Eggs
   VIII. Schemes and Questions
   References
5. Ionic Signaling in the Sea Urchin Egg at Fertilization
   I. Introduction
   II. Assaying the Response of the Egg to Activation
   III. The Release of Intracellular Calcium
   IV. The Consequences of the Increase in Intracellular Free Calcium
   V. The Consequences of the Increase in Intracellular pH
   VI. The Ionic Hypothesis of Egg Activation
   VII. Events That Precede the Calcium Release
   VIII. Conclusions
   References
6. Polyspermy-Preventing Mechanisms
   I. Introduction
   II. Extracellular Blocks to Polyspermy
   III. Plasma Membrane Blocks to Polyspermy
   IV. Physiological Polyspermy
   V. Unanswered Questions
   References
7. Pronuclear Events during Fertilization
   I. Development of the Male Pronucleus
   II. Aspects Regulating the Metamorphosis of the Sperm Nucleus into a Male Pronucleus
   III. Development of the Female Pronucleus
   IV. Pronuclear Association
   V. Concluding Remarks
   References
8. Activation of DNA Synthesis during Early Embryogenesis
   I. Introduction
   II. Oogenesis: Preparation for Nuclear DNA Synthesis
   III. Activation of Nuclear DNA Synthesis at Fertilization
   IV. Control of DNA Synthesis during Early Embryogenesis
   V. Molecular Mechanisms of DNA Replication in Embryogenesis
   References
9. Interspersed Maternal RNA of Sea Urchin and Amphibian Eggs
   I. Introduction
   II. The Complexity of Maternal RNA
   III. Short Repetition DNA Sequence Transcripts in Egg RNA
   IV. The Organization of Single Copy and Short Repetitive Sequences in Maternal RNA
   V. The Structure of Maternal Poly(A) RNAs Containing a Specific Short Repeat Sequence Element
   VI. The Nucleotide Sequences of Transcribed 2109A Repeats and Flanking Single Copy Regions
   VII. Source of Embryo mRNA
   VIII. The Metabolism of Interspersed Maternal RNA
   IX. The Evolution of Interspersed Poly(A) RNA
   X. Concluding Remarks
   References
10. Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Interactions in Early Development
    Text
    References
11. Protein Synthesis during Oogenesis and Early Embryogenesis in the Mammal
    I. Introduction
    II. Accumulation and Storage of RNA during Oogenesis
    III. Protein Synthesis during Oogenesis
    IV. Programs of Protein Synthesis and Expression Initiated during Meiotic Maturation of Potential Consequence to Postfertilization Development
    References
12. Maternal Messenger RNA: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Spatial Control of Its Expression in Embryos
    I. Introduction
    II. Protein Synthetic Machinery and Points of Control
    III. Acceleration of Protein Synthesis in the Sea Urchin Embryo
    IV. Sequence-Specific Selection of Maternal mRNAs for Translation
    V. Spatial Localization of Maternal mRNAs: A Paradigm for Determination?
    VI. Conclusions
    References
    Addendum to Chapter 5
    Index