Chemoattraction of male gametes by a pheromone produced by female gametes of Chlamydomonas.

AUTOR(ES)

Starr, R C

RESUMO

In isogamous species of Chlamydomonas, such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlamydomonas eugametos, the sexual process involves the use of flagella agglutinins by which the gametes of compatible strains adhere through chance encounter and ultimately pair and fuse to form zygotes. In a newly described heterogamous species, Chlamydomonas allensworthii, the sexual process is initiated by the chemoattraction of small sperm to a sexually competent female gamete, which continues to secrete the pheromone until it has fused with one of the sperm so attracted. From bacteria-free female strains of C. allensworthii, the chemoat-tractant has been isolated and identified as a pentosylated hydroquinone (Mr = 532) whose spectral, chemical, and physical properties are in accord with the structure of a 2,3-dimethyl-5-(triprenylcarboxymethyl)-1,4-benzohydroquinone-1-(beta-xyloside). A rapid bioassay of the pheromone uses DEAE-Toyopearl 650M beads to which the pheromone adsorbs. When such activated beads are placed in a suspension of sperm, they act as surrogate females and attract the small motile sperm. The purified pheromone shows activity at a concentration as low as 1 pM.

Documentos Relacionados

• Abortion of Male and Female Gametes in the Tomato Determined by Allelic Interaction
• Chloroplast Genetics of Chlamydomonas. II. Mapping by Cosegregation Frequency Analysis
• Recombination of nonchromosomal genes in Chlamydomonas.
• Release of enzymes by normal and wall-free cells of Chlamydomonas.
• Control of phobic behavioral responses by rhodopsin-induced photocurrents in Chlamydomonas.