IGNACIO, Richelle Angelika E.

4Bio2

FERTILIZATION IN ROUNDWORMS (Caenorhabditis elegans)

Generally, Fertilization in animals is the union of the cytoplasm and
pronuclei of the male and female gametes to form a diploid zygote. Mammals
and nonmammals share several features of fertilization, which are as follows:
o Final maturation phase for sperm and eggs
o Species-specific binding of sperm to eggs
o Penetration by sperm of one or more extracellular coats surrounding
eggs
o Fusion of sperm and eggs
o Activation of eggs
C. elegans is a widely used model organism for fertilization because of
its transparent cuticle, which allows for a direct observation of gametogenesis,
gamete behavior, and fertilization. Hermaphrodites, during their last larval
stage, produce about 300 sperm and then switch to producing oocytes. Adult
males continually produce sperm and can mate with her- maphrodites to
produce cross-progeny. The internal fertilization of C. elegans is extremely
efficient. An unmated hermaphrodite will use all of its sperm and produce
about 300 progeny. When a hermaphrodite is mated to males, they can
produce as many as 1400 progeny. Fertilization in roundworms exhibits
internal fertilization and it happens in the spermatheca. The sperm in
hermaphrodites accumulate in the spermatheca while male roundworms use
their copulatory organ, spicule, to deposit sperm into the vulvar region and
they migrate to the spermatheca, passing through some of the zygotes in the
uterus.
Fertilization of C. elegans starts with the ovulation of the oocyte. The
contractions of the oviduct wall forces the mature oocyte out of the oviduct
and into the spermatheca. In the spermatheca, the oocyte is penetrated by
the sperm. The site where the sperm enters determines the future posterior
end of the embryo. Normally, the sperm entry site is the leading end of the
oocyte just as it enters the spermatheca. Afterwhich, the male and female
pronucleus fuse. The newly fertilized egg exits its prophase arrest and
completes the maturation division consequently extruding the polar bodies,
which will determine the future anterior end of the embryo. Concurrently, it will
secrete a tough chitinous eggshell that will surround the embryo. Afterwards,
the fertilized egg will migrate to the uterus to grow and later be secreted by
the roundworm. During the migration, some of the sperm are also swept into
the uterus. These sperm will migrate back to the spermatheca, which may
take 5 or more days.
Unlike in the fertilization of hermaphrodites with self-derived sperm,
sperm competition occurs when male-derived sperm are present. Sperm
competition is the bias when male-derived sperm are utilized preferably than
self-derived sperm. This phenomenon ensures that outcrosses occur in spite

of the fact that hermaphrodites dominate this species. Male roundworms

invest more in producing their sperm, therefore, producing larger sperms with
larger pseudopods. These move more efficiently thereby displacing the small
self-derived sperm.

REFERENCES:
Riddle DL, Blumenthal T, Meyer BJ, et al., editors. C. elegans II. 2nd
edition. Cold Spring Harbor (NY): Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Press; 1997. Section II, Fertilization. Available from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19994/
Samiksha, S. (2014). Fertilization in animals: The process of fertilization in
animals Explained! Retrieved from
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/biology/fertilization-in-animals-theprocess-of-fertilization-in-animals-explained/23178/
Singson, A. (2001). Every Sperm Is Sacred: Fertilization in Caenorhabditis
elegans. Developmental Biology, 230(2), 101-109.
doi:10.1006/dbio.2000.0118
Ward, S., Carrel, J. S., & Korman, G. (2006). Fertilization in C. elegans.
Worm Breeder's Gazette, 2(2), 13. Retrieved from
http://www.wormbook.org/wli/wbg2.2p13/