Number 42 December 1997
We spent another very enjoyable and productive summer at the Roscoff laboratories in Brittany. The station celebrated the re-opening of the totally remodelled dormitory and dining facilities. Charley worked on sperm surface proteases, sperm binding and penetration in Phallusia while Gretchen collected and freeze-dried many samples of Ascidiella aspersa and Phallusia eggs for a collaborative project with David Epel on egg UV absorbing material. We are grateful for much help from the Goudeau, Meijer and Potin laboratories. Bill Jeffery and Billie Swalla continued their exciting work with Molgula spp. at the Roscoff lab, while Marie and Henri Goudeau continue their electrophysiology experiments on Phallusia eggs. In October we attended The 2nd Intl. Symposium on the Molecular and Cell Biology of Egg and Embryo Coats in Sapporo, Japan, where we heard a great deal of exciting new research. We will be spending January at the Friday Harbor Labs before returning to Fullerton for Charley's last semester of teaching before he retires in June. We will continue with AN for a while after retirement but will most likely limit distribution to email and our web page. But do please continue to send us reprints of all your ascidian research. There are 114 new papers listed in the New Publications section of this newsletter; keep up the good work!
*Ascidian News is not part of the scientific literature and should not be cited as such.
1. Lambert reprints available: Charles is retiring next June and we will be moving to Seattle. We still have a large supply of reprints of most of our publications of the past 27 years. If you want any of them, now is the time to ask! In June many of them will probably be discarded. You can view our list of publications back to 1990 on our internet home page http://nsm.fullerton.edu/~lamberts/ascidian/ Many older papers are also available.
2. Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates. 1997. Vol. 15. Hemichordata, Chaetognatha, and the Invertebrate Chordates. Harrison, FW and Ruppert EE (Eds). 537 pp. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Attn: N. English -- 9th Floor, 605 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10158-0012 or Fax: 212-850-8888. $185.00 (ouch!) Table of Contents: Ch. 1 - Introduction: Microscopic Anatomy of the Notochord, Heterochrony, and Chordate Evolution. E.E. Ruppert; Ch. 2 - Hemichordata. J. Benito and F. Pardos; Ch. 3 - Chaetognatha. G. L. Shinn; Ch. 4 - Urochordata: Ascidiacea. P. Burighel and R.A. Cloney; Ch. 5 - Cephalochordata (Acrania). E.E. Ruppert. The excellent 126 page chapter on ascidians by Burighel and Cloney covers nearly all aspects of the ultrastructure of ascidians and is illustrated by high quality light and electron micrographs from the work of many investigators. We have not seen the other chapters but are sure they are also of high calibre.
3. New book on Hawaiian ascidians: Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii, section 6B: Ascidians (Urochordata) by DP Abbott, AT Newberry and KM Morris, edited by G. Lambert. 64 pp. This work, which we believe will be very useful to ascidiologists, is a compilation of field information by DP Abbott over many years and prepared after his death by Todd Newberry with excellent drawings by Kendal Morris; $19.95 in paperback from the Bishop Museum Press, 1525 Bernice Street, P.O. Box 19000-A, Honolulu HI 96817-0916. (808) 848-4135, fax (808) 841-8968, or wilson@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org.
4. Dr. Laura Stocker, Inst. for Sci. and Technol. Policy, Murdoch Univ., Murdoch, Western Australia 6150 has a chapter on 'Chordata, Hemichordata and Chaetognatha' in a textbook entitled Invertebrate Zoology. A special feature of the chapter will be reproduction in colonial ascidians, especially didemnids. The book will be published by Oxford Univ. Press and edited by Prof. Donald Anderson, recently retired from the Univ. of Sydney. Predicted date of publication is March 1998. Most contributors and hence much of the material will be Australasian, filling a conspicuous gap in our downunder literature.
5. Ascidians featured as journal cover articles: There have been many important research articles on ascidians featured on journal covers, but we would like to mention two recent ones. The April 1997 issue of Zoological Science sports a beautiful color photo of four adult Molgula tectiformis, with an article on their direct development (elimination of the tadpole stage) by Tagawa, Jeffery and Satoh. Created by in situ hybridization, a gigantic Halocynthia roretzi tadpole on the cover of the Oct. 15, 1997 Dev. Biology advertises an article by Okada et al. on neuronal lineages as revealed by expression of a sodium channel gene.
6. New embryology text, Embryology: Constructing the Organism, published by Sinauer Assoc. Inc. contains a long chapter on the Tunicates by William Jeffery and Billie Swalla, and another on the Cephalochordates by J.R. Whittaker, as well as chapters on a wide variety of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants. Embryology: Constructing the Organism ed. by Gilbert and Raunio $ 69.95 ISBN 0-87893-737-2, 550 pp. email: orders@sinauer.com Fax (413) 549-1118
6. Dr. Nina Georgievna Vinogradova, a biography and tribute submitted
by her son Georgyi (Egor) Vinogradov (egor@ecosys.sio.rssi.ru), also a
marine biologist who works on amphipods. It is in part a translation of
a tribute prepared by her colleagues at the Inst. of Oceanology in Moscow.
Nina Georgievna Vinogradova (May 30, 1928 -- March 10, 1997), Russian
marine biologist and oceanologist, died full of creative plans and dreams
of future works. She selflessly loved the Sea and devoted her whole life
to the Sea. She was the favorite student and follower of one of the initiators
of P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (RAS) academician Lev Alexandrovich
Zenkevitch. She was an enthusiastic second year student of the Biology
Dept. of Moscow State University when she visited for the first time the
White Sea, the austere and beautiful Kandalaksha Gulf. Then she worked
in the Caspian Sea, and, above all, took part in the first cruise of R/V
"Vityaz'" in the Sea of Okhotsk in 1949. There she grew under the supervision
of Lev Alexandrovich Zenkevitch into a marine benthos biologist enamored
of her business. She graduated in 1951 and entered the post-graduate school
of IO RAS. And, at last, she participated in the remarkable deep-sea cruise
14 of R/V "Vityaz'" in the region of Kurile-Kamchatka trench (1953). It
was the beginning of her works dealing with fauna of the extreme ocean
depths. The material was processed, the data of all the world expeditions
concerning the deep-sea fauna was analyzed. The quantity of published information
consulted could be measured not in papers and volumes, but in linear meters
of library shelves. As a result information about hundreds of deep-living
species was collected. Maps were constructed of the deep-living fauna as
a whole, but not divided into taxonomic groups. Nina Georgievna discovered
the fundamental global regularities of vertical and horizontal distribution
of deep-living species and established the first zoogeographical map of
ocean abyssal based on the huge amount of analyzed material. This map is
not surpassed even now and is widely cited all over the world in reviews
and courses for students. Undoubtedly, the Ph.D. thesis on the deep-sea
biogeography was defended brilliantly. In 1955 she became a researcher
at the Institute of Oceanology and took part in a dozen large-scale cruises,
which covered the Pacific and Indian oceans, and the Antarctic. The regularities
of life at the abyssal depths and in deep trenches remained the main point
of her interest. It was good tradition in the Shirshov Inst. of Oceanol.:
researcher dealing with general problem must also be expert in some group
of animals. And Nina's group was ascidians. Of course, at first turn deep-sea
ascidians. And here she found very interesting animals - like strange,
sack-like Situla pelliculosa from the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench. Tens
of new species, new genera, faunistic lists of ascidians from previously
unvisited regions of the Ocean. She was really expert here - like in all
fields of her interests. Nina was a participant of many international symposia
and conferences, member of deep-sea ecology SCOR working group, Russian
coordinator of the Deep-Sea Newsletter, author of more than 130 scientific
works. She worked in the institute during her last days and took part in
her last marine expedition - to the Norwegian Sea - in 1995. It is difficult
to imagine how painful for us it will be to live without her bright eyes,
without her recommendations, without her support and love --- in general,
without her. Sincerely yours -The friends, the colleagues, and everybody
who loved her.
A partial bibliography :
Vinogradova NG 1958. On the finding of a new ascidian species - Cnemidocarpa
zenkevitchi in the fjord of the Banger Oasis (Antarctic). Zoologycheskyi
Zhurnal, 37(9):1375-1379 (in Russian).
--- 1959. The geographical distribution of the deep-water bottom fauna
in the abyssal zone of the ocean. Deep-Sea Research, 5:205-208.
--- 1962. Ascidiae simplices of the Indian part of the Antarctic. Exploration
of the fauna of the seas I(IX): Biological results of the Soviet Antarctic
expedition (1955-1958), 1. IzdatelstvoAN SSSR, Moscow & Leningrad.
P. 196-215 (in Russian, many new species).
--- 1962. Vertical zonation in the distribution of deep-sea benthic
fauna in the ocean. Deep-Sea Research, 8:245-250.
--- 1962. Some problems of the study of deep-sea bottom fauna. J. of
the Oceanographic Soc.of Japan, 20th Anniv.Volume. P. 724-741.
--- 1969. On the finding of a new aberrant ascidian in the ultraabyssal
of the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench. Byulleten Moskovskogo Obshchestva Ispytatelej
Prirody, Seria Biologicheskaya, 74(3):27-43 (in Russian, Situla pelliculosa
gen. et sp. nov.).
--- 1969. The geographical distribution of the deep-sea bottom fauna.
In: L.A.Zenkevitch [Ed.]. The Pacific Ocean: Biology of Pacific Ocean.
Book II: Deep-sea bottom fauna; pleuston. Nauka, Moscow. P. 154-181 (in
Russian).
--- 1970. Deep-sea ascidians of the genus Culeolus from the Kurile-Kamchatka
Trench. Trudy Instituta Okeanologii AN SSSR, 86:489-512 (in Russian).
--- 1975. On the discovery of two new species of an aberrant deep-water
ascidian genus Situla in the South-Sandwich Trench. Trudy Instituta
Okeanologii AN SSSR, 103:289-306 (in Russian).
--- 1976. Big face of the Ocean. Priroda, No 11. P. 94-105 (in Russian).
--- 1979. The geographical distribution of the abyssal and hadal (ultra-abyssal)
fauna in relation to the vertical zonation of the Ocean. Sarsia. 64:41-50.
--- 1988. Tunicata, or Urochordata. In: R.K.Pasternak [Ed.]. Life of
the Animals, Vol. 2. Prosveshchenie, Moscow. P. 256-285 (in Russian).
---, Gebruk A.V., Romanov V.N. 1993. Some new data on the Orkney Trench
ultra abyssal fauna. In: Klekowski R.Z., Opalinsky K.W. [Eds.]. The 2nd
Polish-Soviet Antarctic symposium. Dziekanow Lesny. P. 213-221.
--- 1997. Zoogeography of the abyssal and hadal zones of the ocean.
Adv. in Mar. Biol. 32 (in press).
7. White Point BioMarine introduces a Light version of NAPIS
(NAtural Products Information System), available for FREE download with
optional Taxonomy lookup table data and sample data from: http://www.esri.com/base/users/conservation/whitepoint/napis.html
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a key role in drug discovery. Screening natural products extracts, however,
is expensive when compared with synthetic and combinatorial chemical libraries.
Biological activity directed isolation studies and structural elucidation
of unknown compounds adds to the expense. Acquiring and tracking natural
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handling. Combining these requirements within one system, NAPIS, will not
only reduce their costs, but can provide the leverage to convert them to
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napis@wpbm.com
1. From Drs. Tatjana Shaposhnikova and Olga Podgornaya: We are looking for help in getting information, for the amount of journals available in Russian libraries is very restricted. For several years we have investigated the protein composition of blood cells of the ascidian Styela rustica and particularly morula cells. These cells take part in tunic formation and repair and in defense reactions. Blood cell separation in a discontinuous Percoll gradient shows 4 fractions. The 4th fraction contains 90-100 % of morula cells. These cells possess two major proteins of mw. 47 and 26 kDa. Previous studies of our colleague had shown histochemically that morula cells contain phenoloxidase (PO), some cation proteins and some substrates for PO. It's very interesting for us if these proteins are similar to phenoloxidase. We produced polyclonal antiserum against these proteins. Each antiserum reacts with both proteins on the blot and stains the granules of morula cells. Our requests to everybody who can help are: a.We are very interested in reprints about PO system and associated proteins, its functions etc. and we will be very grateful to everybody who can help us. b. In what journal should our material be published? Please send us the Information for Contributors from the appropriate journal,or an address to which we can write. Thank you. Dr. T.Shaposhnikova, Dept. of Cytol. & Histol., Fac.of Biol. & Soil Sci., Tihoretsky pr.4, St. Petersburg State Univ., Universitetskaja nab. 7/9, St-Petersburg, 199034, Russia. email: shapa@histo.bio.pu.ru Dr.Podgornaya, Institute of Cytology RAS, 194064 St. Petersburg, Russia. email: podg@osint.stud.pu.ru Fax: 007 (812) 520 97 03
2. Dr. Chris Ireland (cireland@deans.pharm.utah.edu) writes: I am particularly interested in the chemistry of didemnid ascidians. My home page address is http://ocean.pharm.utah.edu ; it lists short summaries of the projects ongoing in the lab.
3. Charles and Gretchen Lambert continue to document new arrivals of nonindigenous ascidians into southern California harbors. Botryllus firmus was first noted in San Diego Bay this past September.
1. Feeding physiology of the cold water appendicularian Oikopleura
vanhoeffeni (Tunicata). Alexander Bochdansky, Ocean Sciences Centre,
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada A1C
5S7. July 1997 doctoral thesis abstract:
Clearance and ingestion rates, behavior, gut passage time, pigment
degradation and assimilation efficiency were examined for Oikopleura
vanhoeffeni (Appendicularia, Tunicata) in a gradient of concentrations
of laboratory grown diatoms. Data from particle removal experiments and
behavioral observations showed similar trends, although the magnitude of
the responses varied depending on the technique used. Clearance rate decreased
significantly with food concentration, although saturation was not reached
for a particle concentration range representative of conditions in the
field. No lower feeding threshold was found. Clearance rate also decreased
with the age of the external filtering device (i.e. house). For an individual
animal, a wide range of clearance rates can be encountered from 0 to a
physiological upper limit given by the Morris and Deibel (1993) model.
Using body size, tail beat frequency and proportion of time spent feeding
from in situ observations it was possible to estimate clearance rate in
the field. The means of these estimated clearance rates were within a threefold
range of the means of five alternative methods. The mean gut passage time
of O. vanhoeffeni was 0.8 h and was independent of trunk length
and particle concentration, although it varied significantly among individuals.
Studies with 68Ge incorporated into the silica frustules of diatoms as
a conservative tracer, showed that chlorophyll a conversion (i.e. degradation
into fluorescent and non-fluorescent breakdown products) was on average
79%. The chl a conversion was not related to the amount of food in the
gut estimated by visual inspection, although it was inversely correlated
with the amount of 68Ge and chl a recovered in the guts of animals. Assimilation
efficiency of bulk diatom carbon was 67%. Extraction in various solvents
allowed fractionation of food and feces into four main biochemical pools.
Proteins and low molecular weight compounds were preferentially absorbed
by the animals over lipids and polysaccharides. Predicted C:N ratios (by
weight) for fecal pellets produced on a diatom diet ranged from 6.0 to
7.2, depending on the formula used and were consequently not much higher
than the C:N ratios of the ingested diatoms (C:N = 5.2 - 6.3). The results
of this thesis are relevant for the calculation of realistic population
clearance rates as well as for the biochemical transformation of sinking
material as appendicularians in general are major grazers in the world
oceans. bochdan@morgan.ucs.mun.ca
2. Sequence analysis of five prospective manx alleles from the ascidian,
Molgula oculata. Rebecca Jones - M.S. May 1996 with Dr. Billie Swalla,
Vanderbilt University Biol. Sci.
Summary: there are at least 5 different alleles of Manx in the Molgula
oculata population which show a high amount of polymorphisms when compared
to other genes, such as actins.
1. Congress of the ISDCI at Williamsburg, VA July 1997.
Phenoloxidase, morula cells and cytotoxicity in the compound ascidian
Botryllus schlosseri. L Ballarin, F Cima, A Sabbadin. Dpto. di Biol.,
Univ. di Padova, Viale G. Colombo, 3, 35121 Padova, Italy.
Morula cells (MC) of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri
contain phenoloxidase (PO) inside their vacuoles. As the release of their
vacuolar content at the border of contacting incompatible colonies entails
the formation of necrotic masses, which characterize the rejection reaction,
the role of PO in Botryllus cytotoxicity was investigated. When
hemocytes are incubated with blood plasma from incompatible colonies, MC
degranulate and after 60 min the cytotoxicity index becomes significantly
greater than that observed in controls with autologous plasma. The rise
in cell mortality is completely inhibited by the addition of the PO inhibitor
Na benzoate 10 mM or of the serine protease inhibitors phenylmethylsulfonyl
fluoride and benzamidine at 1 mM concentration, although MC regularly degranulate.
In the presence of Na benzoate 10 mM there is a significant reduction in
the number, size and color intensity of necrotic masses along the contact
border of nonfusible colonies. These results strongly suggest that PO is
the enzyme responsible of the cytotoxicity observed both in hemocyte cultures
and rejection reactions.
2. 2nd Intl. Symp. on the Molec. & Cell Biol. of Egg- and Embryo Coats, Sapporo, Japan Oct. 12-17, 1997.
#8. Dual block to polyspermy in ascidian eggs: sperm-induced glycosidase
release from follicle cells followed by depolarization of the egg plasma
membrane. C. Lambert1,2, H. Goudeau 2, C. Franchet 2, G. Lambert1,2 and
M. Goudeau2, 1Dept. Biol. Sci., Calif. State Univ., Fullerton, CA 92834.
2Sta. Biol., Place Georges Teissier, BP 74, 29682 Roscoff, France.
Ascidians, the most primitive members of the phylum Chordata, are hermaphroditic,
live in dense assemblages, and usually release sperm before the eggs. Hence,
eggs are often spawned into dense clouds of sperm. Because fertilization
by more than a single sperm leads to chaotic cleavage and early embryonic
death, ascidians have evolved at least two successive blocks to polyspermy:
the rapid release of N-acetylglucosaminidase that inhibits sperm binding
to the vitelline coat (VC) (Lambert 1989) and a subsequent change in membrane
potential that prevents supernumerary sperm-egg fusion (Goudeau & Goudeau
1993; Goudeau et al. 1994; Lambert et al. 1997). Although these eggs do
not produce a fertilization membrane, they undergo cortical contractions
soon after fertilization (McDougall et al. 1995). The putative g-protein
inhibitor suramin inhibits cortical contractions in Phallusia mammillata
eggs in a dose-dependent manner but fails to affect sperm motility, sperm
binding or glycosidase release (Lambert et al. 1997). Although suramin
has been suggested to be specific for uncoupling g-proteins (Dasso &
Taylor 1991), it actually blocks cell surface protease activity in Phallusia
sperm. This blocks the fertilization current and entry of sperm into eggs
as judged by DNA specific fluorescent probes (Lambert et al. 1997). Suramin
treatment is completely reversible; intact eggs exhibit the electrical
response after the drug is washed out. Thus suramin effectively uncouples
the two polyspermy blocks. Sperm must contact the follicle cells before
passing through the VC. Eggs with the VC removed and fertilized in the
presence of 20 (M suramin show the electrical response and sperm entry
35% of the time; thus VC removal enhances sperm entry (Lambert et al. 1997).
That suramin fails to block N-acetylglucosaminidase while preventing penetration
of the egg coat suggests that sperm might interact directly with follicle
cells to induce glycosidase release. Sperm of Phallusia collide
with and bounce off isolated follicle cells without binding. Fertilization
leading to cleavage is species specific in ascidians (Lambert et al. 1990).
However, glycosidase release from Phallusia eggs can be induced
by sperm from Ascidiella aspersa, Ascidia mentula or Ciona
intestinalis. None of these sperm penetrate the vitelline coat of Phallusia
eggs. Follicle cells isolated from Phallusia eggs release glycosidase
in response to sperm. Thus these eggs have two blocks to polyspermy that
operate in sequence: an early first block resulting from enzymatic modification
of the VC by N-acetylglucosaminidase released primarily from follicle cells,
and a second electrical block operating at the egg plasma membrane level
and requiring sperm-egg fusion. The glycosidase is membrane bound before
fertilization (Lambert & Goode 1992) and can be released by the tryrosine
kinase activator dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) (Archuleta et al. 1993).
Twenty mM DMBA causes glycosidase release without the contractions. Glycosidase
release in response to DMBA is inhibited with 20 mM genistein or 200 mM
tyrphostin A-23, both tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Moore & Kinsey 1995).
Sperm-induced glycosidase release is inhibited by tyrphostin A-23 but not
the genistein. Isolated follicle cells from Ascidia ceratodes eggs
release glycosidase in response to sperm or DMBA. This release is inhibited
by tryphostin A-23. Thus ascidian sperm activate a tryosine kinase system
in follicle cells on contact. This causes early glycosidase release and
the early block, while sperm must pentetrate the VC and fuse with the egg
surface to induce the later electrical block.
#P17. Phallusia mammillata sperm have cell surface spermosin,
acrosin and chymotrypsin activity and all three proteases may be involved
in fertilization. CC Lambert, Dept. Biol. Sci., Calif. State Univ., Fullerton,
CA 92834-6850.
Fertilization involves the sperm recognizing and binding to egg coats,
penetration of the egg coats, and finally fusion of sperm and egg membranes
(2). Proteases have been suggested as used in both binding to and penetration
of the egg coats (2,4,9). In ascidians there is evidence for both glycosidases
and proteases being operational in sperm binding (2). Ascidian eggs have
complex coats with distinct non-cellular domains and two layers of cells
(1). In order to fertilize the eggs, sperm must traverse these seemingly
formidable barriers. They have a very simple sperm (3) that binds to and
penetrates the egg coats by a combination of mechanical (5) and enzymatic
processes (2, 4, 8). Previously three sperm surface proteases were shown
to be necessary for penetration of the egg coats and fertilization in the
most highly evolved stolidobranch ascidians (2,11,13). Fertilization of
intact eggs is inhibited by fertilization of the eggs in the presence of
protease inhibitors, but these have no effect upon eggs whose coats have
been removed (2). The simpler phlebobranch ascidians also have three sperm
surface proteases (6, 8). Although sperm from phlebobranch ascidians express
all three proteases, only two seem essential for fertilization: the chymotrypsin-like
enzyme (8) and spermosin (10). Chymostatin inhibits fertilization in Ciona
intestinalis (8) as does an antibody to spermosin (10). Phallusia
mammillata is a large phlebobranch ascidian abundant on the English
Channel coast of France. Their sperm express acrosin (cleaves Phe-Ser-Arg-MCA),
spermosin (cleaves Val-Pro-Arg-MCA), and chymotrypsin (cleaves N-Suc-Leu-Leu-Val-Tyr-MCA)
activities on their surface as assayed by cleavage of the appropriate substrates
(12) in sea water. Protease activity is inhibited by chymostatin, lima
bean trypsin inhibitor and suramin. Cleavage is inhibited by fertilization
in the presence of chymotrypsin substrate or chymostatin. This inhibition
is dose-dependent with complete blockage at 16 uM chymostatin. Cleavage
is delayed but not inhibited by spermosin or acrosin substrates and inhibitors.
Protease substrates (30 uM) or inhibitors (50 ug/ml) have no effect on
sperm binding to the vitelline coat scored at one minute after insemination.
Ascidian eggs undergo cortical contractions leading to ooplasmic segregation
and the resumption of meiosis following fertilization (7). Using cortical
contractions as an indication of fertilization, we find that acrosin and
spermosin substrates both inhibit cortical contractions scored at 3 min
after insemination. However, this is a delay rather than an absolute block;
lima bean trypsin inhibitor (50 ug/ml) causes a 4 min delay in eggs undergoing
the first contraction. All three protease substrates and several inhibitors
block sperm penetration as scored directly by counting the number of sperm
within the vitelline coat at 2 min after insemination. Thus while chymotrypsin-like
activity is essential for penetration of the phlebobranch vitelline coat
(3, 8), spermosin and acrosin both function to increase the rate of penetration.
That spermosin and acrosin are auxiliary proteases in phlebobranch fertilization
but essential in stolidobranchs suggests that a crucial step in ascidian
evolution involved these formerly auxiliary proteases becoming essential.
(1)Eisenhut M & Honegger TG 1997. Mar. Biol. 128: 213-224. (2) Hoshi
M et al. 1994. Essays in Dev. Biol. 5: 201-208. (3)Koch RA & Lambert
CC 1990. J. E.M. Tech. 16: 115-154. (4)Koch RA et al. 1994. Dev. Biol.
162: 438-450. (5)Lambert CC & Epel D 1979. Dev. Biol. 69: 296-304.
(6)Marino R et al. 1992. Mol. Repro. & Dev. 26: 383-388. (7)McDougall
A et al. 1995. Zygote 3: 251-258. (8)Pinto MR et al. 1990. Mol. Repro.
& Dev. 26: 319-323. (9)Sawada H et al. 1996. BBRC 222: 499-504. (10)Sawada
H et al. 1997. J. Repro. & Dev. 43: Suppl. (11)Sawada H & Someno
T 1996. Mol. Repro. & Dev. 45: 240-243. (12)Sawada H et al. 1984. J.
Biol. Chem. 259: 2900-2904. (13)Takizawa S et al. 1993. J. Exp. Zool. 267:
86-91.
#P24. Role of cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of dynein light chain on
the SAAF-dependent activation of sperm motility in the ascidian Ciona
intestinalis. M. Nomura, K. Inaba, M. Morisawa Misaki Mar. Biol. Sta.,
Misaki Miura Kanagawa 238-02 Japan.
Spermatozoa of the ascidians Ciona intestinalis and C. savignyi
initiate their motility by the factor derived from unfertilized egg, designated
sperm activating and attracting factor (SAAF) which elevates intracellular
cyclic-AMP (cAMP) level dependent on extracellular Ca2+ (6). From experiments
using demembranated Ciona sperm, It was shown that cAMP is required
prior to ATP to initiate and to activate axonemal movement (1, 2, 3, 4).
It was also shown that many sperm flagellar proteins including dynein light
chain are phosphorylated during incubation of demembranated sperm with
ATP and cAMP (3, 5). However, there is no evidence of which proteins are
phosphorylated during the activation of Ciona sperm by SAAF. In
the present study, when the sperm of C. intestinalis which were
immotile in the SW was demembranated in the extracting medium containing
Triton X-100 and then reactivated in the reactivating medium containing
ATP, axonemal movement did not occur, but axonemes became motile within
1 minute upon addition of cAMP, suggesting the requirement of cAMP for
sperm activation (see also 1, 2, 3, 4, 6). Furthermore when sperm were
activated by SAAF in the seawater and then demembranated, sperm axonemal
movement occurred by ATP alone without cAMP. In Ca2+-free sea water (CFSW)
sperm were immotile if SAAF is present, and the demembranated sperm prepared
from the immotile sperm is still immotile in the presence of ATP and cAMP.
These suggest that Ca2+ influx is required before cAMP-dependent activation
of axonemal movement; SAAF causes hyperpolarization of the plasma membrane
(see poster#29 by Izumi et al.) and influx of Ca2+ and then the both events
cause the increase of cAMP level through or activation of adenylyl cyclase,
resulting in activation of sperm motility in Ciona. Pharmacological
experiments showed that calmodulin inhibitor, W-7, myosin light chain kinase
inhibitor, ML-7, and protein kinase A inhibitor, H-89, inhibited SAAF-dependent
activation of sperm motility. IBMX , a phosphodiesterase inhibitor is an
activator of sperm motility through increase in cAMP. H-89 treated sperm
did not became motile in the presence of IBMX, however W-7 or ML-7 treated
sperm became motile by IBMX as well as SAAF. Furthermore, demembranated
sperm prepared from W-7 treated immotile sperm require cAMP for reactivation.
These suggest that W-7 sensitive process, e.g. calmodulin, regulates cAMP
synthesis system and H-89 sensitive process, e.g. flagellar proteins phosphorylations
dependent on cAMP is present in the downstream of the system. Autoradiographies
of 32P incorporation into proteins of demembranated sperm showed the presence
of many cAMP-dependent phosphoproteins in the sperm flagellar axoneme.
From comparison of phosphoproteins in the demembranated sperm prepared
from SAAF-treated or-untreated intact sperm (21kDa and 26 kDa proteins
phosphorylated in SAAF dependent manner. CFSW, W-7 and ML-7 inhibited SAAF
dependent phosphorylation of both proteins. These suggest that this 21kDa
and 26kDa protein phosphorylation is related to the SAAF-dependent activation
of sperm motility. The 32P-labeled 21kDa protein along with some the other
axonemal proteins was extracted with a high salt buffer containing 0.6M
KCl, but 26kDa protein remained in axonemal fraction. Subsequent sucrose
density gradient centrifugation of the extract showed that the 21kDa protein
sedimented at approximately 20 S and the 21kDa peak has ATPase activity,
suggesting that the 21kDa phosphoprotein is a dynein light chain of which
its phosphorylation corresponds to SAAF-dependent activation of sperm motility.
Dynein heavy chain was also phosphorylated with motility initiation in
cAMP-depending manner. SAAF-dependent activation of sperm motility in Ciona
intestinalis will occur as follow: When SAAF contact with the surface
of the sperm plasma membrane, extracellular Ca2+ enter into sperm and entered
Ca2+ bind to calmodulin-like Ca2+-binding protein accelerate intracellular
cAMP synthesis and/or decelerate cAMP destruction systems, resulting in
intracellular cAMP increase. The cAMP activates protein kinase A which
phosphorylates the dynein light chain resulting in activation of sperm
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#P39. Hyperpolarization of sperm plasma membrane mediated by K+ efflux
induces an increase in cAMP and initiation of sperm motility in the ascidians
Ciona intestinalis and C. savignyi. H. Izumi1, T. Marian2,
K. Inaba1, Y. Oka1, M. Morisawa1. 1 Misaki Mar. Biol. Sta., Misaki Miura
Kanagawa 238-02, Japan; 2 Positron Emission Tomograph Center, Univ. Med.
Sch. of Debrecen, Hungary.
Calcium and cAMP are widely known as the important factors for the
regulation of sperm motility as well as acrosome reaction in invertebrates
and vertebrates (15). The initiation of sperm motility triggered by the
second messengers through activation of protein kinase and resulting phosphorylation
of the proteins (7, 15, 12, 5, 8). In the ascidians Ciona intestinalis
and C. savigyni, sperm -activating and -attracting factor (SAAF)
released from the egg at fertilization stimulates both Ca2+ influx and
a transient cAMP elevation of the sperm leading to the activation of sperm
motility. SAAF requires Ca2+ for the activation but a phosphodiesterase
inhibitor, theophylline, also elevates cAMP level and activates their motility
even in the absence of extracellular Ca2+, suggesting that activation of
cAMP producing system requires Ca2+ (16). Recently, much attention has
been paid on the roles of membrane potential for modulation of cAMP synthesis
and consequent regulation of sperm activation and acrosome reaction: Speract,
a peptide from the egg jelly induces both hyperpolarization of the plasma
membrane and elevation of the cAMP level in sea urchin sperm. Artificially
induced membrane hyperpolarization of the sea urchin sperm also causes
an increase in the level of cAMP (2). A decrease in external K+ surrounding
sperm causes their membrane hyperpolarization (14) and triggers initiation
of the sperm motility without an increase in intracellular pH (3) through
synthesis of intracellular cAMP (Morisawa; the present meeting) in the
trout. We show here that valinomycin, a potassium ionophore alone as well
as SAAF activated sperm motility in Ciona. The activation of sperm
motility by valinomycin or SAAF was suppressed by high concentration of
extracellular K+. Measurement of membrane potential with a slow voltage-sensitive
arbocyanine dye, DisC3 (5) showed that membrane potential did not change
in the absence of SAAF in all concentration of external K+ examined, but
SAAF or valinomycin induced membrane hyperpolarization and subsequent addition
of external K+ caused depolarization of the plasma membrane. The amplitude
of the SAAF-induced hyperpolarization of sperm plasma membrane was dependent
on external K+ concentration despite in the presence or absence of external
Ca2+. These results suggest that SAAF-induced membrane hyperpolarization
depends on K+ permeability of the plasma membrane but is independent of
external Ca2+. Intracellular K+ concentration of Ciona sperm was
measured to be 576 mM by nigericin null point method and membrane potential
without SAAF was calibrated to be -42mV by valinomycin null point method.
After treatment of sperm with SAAF in ASW containing more than 20mM K+,
membrane potential of sperm plasma membrane became almost equal to equilibrium
potential of K+, suggesting that the membrane potential changes which induced
by SAAF mainly occurs through an increase in K+ permeability of the plasma
membrane. A voltage dependent K+ channel blocker, mast cell degranulating
peptide (MCD-peptide), blocked SAAF-induced activation of sperm motility
at 10mM. Membrane potential changes was also inhibited by 10mM MCD-peptide.
These results suggested that changes of membrane potential through opening
a kind of K+ channel is important to the activation of sperm motility in
Ciona. SAAF induced a transient elevation of cAMP level in Ciona
savignyi (16) and C. intestinalis only in the presence of Ca2+.
We show here that cAMP level reaches a peak within 5 seconds after addition
of SAAF. Valinomycin also increased cAMP level but the increase developed
slowly and the cAMP level reached a plateau 30 second after addition of
valinomycin. In the presence of MCD-peptide, SAAF failed to increase cAMP
but valinomycin increased it, suggesting that membrane hyperpolarization
produced by opening of voltage dependent potassium channels causes cAMP
synthesis, resulting in increase in intracellular cAMP concentration. SAAF
induced membrane hyperpolarization independently of external Ca2+ in the
normal ASW (K+= 9.39mM) and the hyperpolarization regulates the cAMP synthesis.
However without external Ca2+ SAAF fails to initiate sperm motility. A
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(Ascidia ceratodes). H Girma, S Goel, and RA Koch, Dept. of Biol.
Sci., Calif. State Univ. Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92834-6850.
Sperm activation in the sea squirt Ascidia ceratodes is defined
by mitochondrial translocation (MTL)--a Ca2+-triggered actin/myosin-based
process. We have used a microscopic assay for MTL and a spectrofluorometric
assay for [Ca2+]i using the Ca 2+-sensitive dye Fura PE3. In order to test
the involvement of Go proteins in this process we used mastoparan, a peptide
toxin from wasp venom known to mimic surface receptors by stimulating Go
proteins, and its active derivative, mas7, and inactive derivative, mas17,
as well as the Go protein blocker, pertussis toxin (PTX). In the MTL assay,
samples were incubated for 30 min (RT) in a solution containing activators,
attached to coverslips, fixed in formaldehyde (1%) and analyzed (300 sperm
were counted per replicate using sperm cells from three different animals).
The ability of sperm cells to be activated was determined by high pH (9.4)
stimulation (positive control) and revealed that 77 + or -2.1% (mean +
or - SD, n=900). Negative controls were exposed to the inactive peptide,
mas17, and resulted in 10 + or - 3.6% activation. Using MTL assay, we found
that either mastoparan (17 uM) or mas7 (3.5 uM) induced sperm activation
at a level equal to 70% of positive controls. For spectrofluorometric assay,
sperm cells were incubated with Fura PE3 for 20 min, centrifuged, resuspended
in artificial sea water (pH 6.8), placed in cuvettes in the spectrofluorometer
where ratiometric analysis was performed using the excitation wavelengths
of 350 and 380 nm with emission at 550 nm. Spectrofluorometric analysis
revealed that after 25 min of treatment by mas7 (7.0 uM) at 15o C, [Ca2+]i
(as determined by 350/380 ratios) increased by 24% over baseline, an elevation
to 72% of positive control values. This mas-dependent rise in [Ca2+]i decreased
by 60% in the presence of PTX. Thus, we conclude that a mastoparan/mas7-
and PTX-sensitive trimeric G protein (presumed to use ao subunit) initiates
a signaling cascade which culminates in elevation of [Ca2+]i thus triggering
sperm activation. Funded by NIH MBRS SO6-GM08258 and NIH AREA R15-HD28229.
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