title: The intimate genetics of Drosophila fertilization.
abstract: The union of haploid gametes at fertilization initiates the formation of the diploid zygote in sexually reproducing animals. This founding event of embryogenesis includes several fascinating cellular and nuclear processes, such as sperm-egg cellular interactions, sperm chromatin remodelling, centrosome formation or pronuclear migration. In comparison with other aspects of development, the exploration of animal fertilization at the functional level has remained so far relatively limited, even in classical model organisms. Here, we have reviewed our current knowledge of fertilization in Drosophila melanogaster, with a special emphasis on the genes involved in the complex transformation of the fertilizing sperm nucleus into a replicated set of paternal chromosomes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR5558, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France benjamin.loppin@univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Loppin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR5558, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: Raphaëlle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dubruille
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR5558, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Horard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D002467:Cell Nucleus; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology; D015053:Zygote / Q000378:metabolism
keywords: Drosophila; egg; fertilization; pronucleus; sperm; zygote