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r
e s e a r c h.. f o c u s :
Sperm-egg
interactions
Although
complex interactions have long been known to occur between the surfaces
of the sperm and egg duringfertilization, only recently has it
been appreciated that complex
sperm-egg interactions also occur inside the fertilized egg. In
the case of Drosophila, an enormous quantity of material
is delivered to the egg bythe sperm, raising intriguing questions
about the function and fate of such paternally-derived components.
In collaboration with Tim Karr (University of Bath), I have been
exploring the nature ofsperm-egg interactions in various species
of Drosophila. Wehave refuted the hypothesis thatlongsperm
tailsare adaptations forprovisioning zygotesorsome otherpost-fertilization,
at least as a general explanation for spermlength evolution in
Drosophila.Nevertheless, ourobservations raise the possibility
of extragenicsperm contributions to embryogenesis and of ahighly
evolved level of sperm-eggcompatibility.
Selected
Related Publications:
Pitnick,
S., and T.L. Karr. 1998. Paternal products and by-products
in Drosophila development. Proceedings of the Royal Society
of London B 265:821-826. [PDF]
Karr,
T. L., and S. Pitnick. 1996. The ins and outs of fertilization.
Nature 379: 405-406.
For
more details and selected publications on the different aspects
of my research program, follow these links:
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