Species specificity in avian sperm:perivitelline interaction.

The interaction of chicken spermatozoa with the inner perivitelline layer from different avian species in vitro during a 5 min co-incubation was measured as the number of points of hydrolysis produced per unit area of inner perivitelline layer. The average degree of interaction, as a proportion of that between chicken spermatozoa and their homologous inner perivitelline layer, was: equal to or greater than 100% within Galliformes (chicken, turkey, quail, pheasant, peafowl and guineafowl); 44% within Anseriformes (goose, duck); and less than 30% in Passeriformes (Zebra Finch) and Columbiformes (collared-dove). The homologue of the putative chicken sperm-binding proteins, chicken ZP1 and ZP3, were identified by Western blotting with anti-chicken ZP1/ZP3 antibody in the perivitelline layers of all species. The functional cross-reactivity between chicken spermatozoa and heterologous inner perivitelline layer appeared to be linked to known phylogenetic distance between the species, although it was not related to the relative affinity of the different ZP3 homologues for anti-chicken ZP3. This work demonstrates that sperm interaction with the egg investment does not represent such a stringent species-specific barrier in birds as it does in mammals and marine invertebrates. This may be a factor in the frequency of hybrid production in birds.

Skin flaps inhibit both the current of injury at the amputation surface and regeneration of that limb in newts.

For over two decades, we have been investigating a strong (ca. 20-100 microA/cm2), outwardly directed electric current driven through the limb stump for the first few days following amputation in regenerating salamanders. This current is driven through the stump in a proximal/distal direction by the amiloride-sensitive transcutaneous voltage of the intact skin of the stump. Limb regeneration can be manipulated by several technique that manipulate this physiology, demonstrating that the ionic current is necessary, but not sufficient, for normal regeneration of the amphibian limb. Here, we demonstrate that a full thickness graft of skin covering the forelimb stump of newts strikingly inhibits the regeneration of the limb, and that this procedure is also highly correlated to a suppression of peak outwardly directed stump currents in those animals that fail to regenerate.