Sperm protein makes its mark upon the worm embryo
Roush, W.
Science 271(5245): 33
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 8539595 Document Number: 466600
SPE-11, a protein produced only in the sperm of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, may play a crucial role during the first few minutes after the embryo is fertilized. This is the conclusion of a report in the January issue of Development by molecular biologist Heidi Browning of the University of Colorado and developmental geneticist Susan Strome of Indiana University. Browning and Strome noted that when C. elegans eggs were fertilized by sperm lacking SPE-11, the resulting embryos failed to complete fundamental developmental tasks and to grow into multicelled embryos. According to Sam Ward, a developmental biologist at the University of Arizona, "this is the first example of an unambiguous paternal effect by a substance that's brought into the egg.".