Single-Molecule Sensitivity

摘要

The external fertilization of sea urchin eggs relies on an extreme sensitivity of the sperm to chemoattractant molecules that guide the sperm toward the egg. In fact, Arbacia punctulata sperm can sense a single molecule of chemoattractant. Boenigk ef al. show that such sensitivity is not limited to the receptor-type guanylyl cyclase that is located on the sperm cell membrane and detects the chemoattractant.