A comparison of fertilization envelope development in three species of Strongylocentrotus (S. franciscanus, S. droebachiensis, and S. purpuratus)

The ultrastructure of fertilization envelope (FE) development and the polypeptide spectra of Strongylocentrotus franciscanus and S. droebachiensis envelopes were compared to S. purpuratus. In S. franciscanus, the FE reached its maximum thickness of 67 nm by 3 minutes postinsemination (PI), and final structuralization was observed by 40 minutes PI. The fully formed FE did not have microvillar impressions (casts) and was symmetrical, with outer double laminar elements surrounding an amorphous central region. Isolated S. franciscanus FEs were soluble in reducing and denaturing solvents and the same set of 33 polypeptides ranging from 18.5 to 260 kD was detected in FEs isolated from 10 to 180 minutes PI. The S. droebachiensis FE retained microvillar casts, assumed its definitive form by 3 minutes PI, and was 70 nm thick between microvillar impressions. Isolated S. droebachiensis FEs were partially soluble in reducing and denaturing solvents, and the polypeptide spectra of FEs isolated between 10 and 60 minutes PI were identical and showed 14 polypeptides from 18.5 to 265 kD. Antisera against extracted FEs and the FE extract from S. purpuratus were immunologically cross-reactive (using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) with S. franciscanus and S. droebachiensis FE preparations; immunoblots identified 13 and 5 cross-reactive polypeptides, respectively. Most of the cross-reactive polypeptides were of slightly different molecular weight. Based on comparative ultrastructural, solubility, and electrophoretic data, we suggest that S. droebachiensis FE development is most like that observed in S. purpuratus.