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Reproductive and Developmental Strategies pp 479–497Cite as

Ascidian Sexual Reproductive Strategies: Mechanisms of Sperm-Egg Interaction and Self-Sterility

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Part of the book series: Diversity and Commonality in Animals ((DCA))

Abstract

Ascidians (protochordate) are hermaphrodites that release sperm and eggs nearly simultaneously. However, self-fertilization is prohibited by self-sterility mechanisms during interaction between sperm and the vitelline coat (VC) of the eggs in many ascidian species, including Ciona robusta(former name: Ciona intetsinalis type A) and Halocynthia roretzi. A recent genetic study in C. robusta revealed that two tightly linked gene pairs in loci A and B, i.e., the sperm PKDREJ-like receptor s-Themis-A and the VC fibrinogen-like ligand v-Themis-A, and s-Themis-B and v-Themis-B, which include highly variable regions among individuals, are responsible for self-recognition. Sperm recognizes an egg as a self-egg when both alleles of s/v-Themis-A and s/v-Themis-B possess the same haplotypes. When attached to the VC of self-eggs, acute and drastic Ca2+ influx takes place in the sperm head and flagella probably via the Ca2+-conducting cation channel in the C-terminal region of s-Themis-B, which results in sperm detachment from the VC or decrease in sperm motility. We recently identified v-Themis-like, an acid-extractable VC protein with no allelic polymorphism, as a new candidate that participates in self-sterility. This self-sterility mechanism is closely related to the self-incompatibility systems in angiosperms. A different ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi, utilizes a different self/nonself-recognition system during fertilization, using an EGF-like repeat-containing VC protein, HrVC70. Moreover, the genome database of H. roretzi contains four pairs of s/v-Themis homologs. These gene products may also play a role in self-sterility in this species. This chapter describes the historic and current understandings of the mechanisms of gamete interaction and self/nonself-recognition in ascidian fertilization.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas from MEXT, Japan to HS (21112001, 21112002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Sugashima, Toba, Japan

    Hitoshi Sawada, Shiori Nakazawa & Maki Shirae-Kurabayashi

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  1. Hitoshi Sawada
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  2. Shiori Nakazawa
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  3. Maki Shirae-Kurabayashi
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Correspondence to Hitoshi Sawada .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Japan

    Kazuya Kobayashi

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Technology Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

    Takeshi Kitano

  3. Laboratory of Reproductive Developmental Biology, Division of Earth Sciences, Biology, and Chemistry, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan

    Yasuhiro Iwao

  4. Misaki Marine Biological Station, Graduate School of Science The University of Tokyo, Miura, Japan

    Mariko Kondo

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Sawada, H., Nakazawa, S., Shirae-Kurabayashi, M. (2018). Ascidian Sexual Reproductive Strategies: Mechanisms of Sperm-Egg Interaction and Self-Sterility. In: Kobayashi, K., Kitano, T., Iwao, Y., Kondo, M. (eds) Reproductive and Developmental Strategies. Diversity and Commonality in Animals. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56609-0_23

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