The Fish Egg's Zona Pellucida

Current Topics in Developmental Biology
Eveline S Litscher, Paul M Wassarman

Abstract

All fish eggs are surrounded by an envelope, called the zona pellucida (ZP), that plays various roles during oogenesis, egg deposition, fertilization, and embryogenesis. The fish egg ZP consists of only a few proteins that are homologs of mammalian ZP proteins ZP1, ZP3, and ZP4. Unlike the situation in mammals, in fishes there are often multiple copies of ZP genes, perhaps a consequence of ancient polyploidization, gene amplification, and mutation. Like mammalian ZP proteins, fish egg ZP1-like proteins exhibit conserved organization with distinct domains and motifs, but unlike mammalian ZP1 and ZP4 have a glutamine (Q)- and/or proline (P)-rich stretch as an N-terminal extension. Such extensions may play a role in assembly of ZP fibrils and/or account for certain properties of the fish egg ZP, such as elasticity. Recent proposals suggest that fish egg ZP proteins can adopt amyloid-like structures, serve as antifreeze proteins in Antarctic icefishes, and protect eggs subjected to desiccating conditions in small shallow pools. In this chapter, these and other aspects of fish egg ZP proteins are presented.

Citations

Feb 7, 2020·Journal of Developmental Biology·Christopher D SmallBryan D Crawford
Jun 23, 2020·Annual Review of Biochemistry·Eveline S Litscher, Paul M Wassarman
May 2, 2020·Current Genetics·Aleksandra V Sergeeva, Alexey P Galkin
Jul 14, 2019·Nature Communications·Kaoru NishimuraLuca Jovine
Jun 15, 2020·Fish Physiology and Biochemistry·Pooja Vijay, Neeta Sehgal
Jun 21, 2021·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Emily E KillingbeckWillie J Swanson
Oct 14, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Enrica Bianchi

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