Ultrastructure of Fertilization

Dr. Austin's skill gives us today's most descriptive and extensive account on fertilization. He presents detailed current research on the diverse ultrastructure of gametes and fertilization, from protozoa to man as well as complex members of the plant kingdom. A collection of 127 micrographs and 48 diagrams vividly show the comparative changes that occur when the sperm passes through the egg investments. The reader can actually see the very heart of fertilization—the union of nuclei. Compact, well-defined, descriptive writing makes a complicated subject highly readable and very interesting without creating a massive volume. Our attention focuses directly on the fundamental nature of the cell membrane and a variety of enzymemediated processes by Dr. Austin's ultrastructural studies of the sperm acrosome reaction, union of gametes, breakdown of egg cortical granules, and extrusion of polar bodies. Some mechanisms were quite similar in several invertebrate species and in mammals, despite the many noted