title: The molecular basis of sex: linking yeast to human.
abstract: Species-specific recognition between egg and sperm, a crucial event that marks the beginning of fertilization in multicellular organisms, mirrors the binding between haploid cells of opposite mating type in unicellular eukaryotes such as yeast. However, as implied by the lack of sequence similarity between sperm-binding regions of invertebrate and vertebrate egg coat proteins, these interactions are thought to rely on completely different molecular entities. Here, we argue that these recognition systems are, in fact, related: despite being separated by 0.6-1 billion years of evolution, functionally essential domains of a mollusc sperm receptor and a yeast mating protein adopt the same 3D fold as egg zona pellucida proteins mediating the binding between gametes in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Willie J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Aagaard
authors.forename: Victor D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Vacquier
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monné
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sadat Al Hosseini
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jovine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008974:Mollusca; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013045:Species Specificity; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004527:Egg Proteins