Flowering Plant Sperm Contains a Cytosolic Soluble Protein Factor Which Can Trigger Calcium Oscillations in Mouse Eggs
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Li, Shi-Tao; Huang, Xiu-Ying; Sun, Fang-Zhen
- Source
- Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications; September 2001, Vol. 287 Issue: 1 p56-59, 4p
- Subject
- Language
- ISSN
- 0006291X; 10902104
There is evidence showing that the sperm-induced Ca2+oscillations in mammalian eggs at fertilization are triggered by a sperm-derived protein factor. It was established recently that the activity of the putative sperm protein in causing Ca2+oscillations in mammalian eggs is not species-specific in vertebrates (1, 16). Here we report that cytosolic soluble extracts derived from flowering plant sperms in Brassica campestriscan also induce fertilization-like Ca2+oscillations when microinjected into mouse eggs. The factor responsible for inducing Ca2+oscillations in the plant sperm was sperm-specific and heat- or trypsin-labile. Eight to ten sperm equivalents of the plant sperm extracts had enough activity to trigger Ca2+oscillations in mouse eggs. Our study suggests that, although plant and mammal are evolutionary divergent species, the activity of the putative sperm protein factor in triggering Ca2+signaling in mammalian eggs is not specific to the animal kingdom.