The Involvement of Sperm and Egg Glycosidases in Animal Fertilization

A number of glycosidases have been detected in the seminal fluid of the male genital tract of mammals and in sperm and eggs of many invertebrate and vertebrate animals.Although some of these enzymes have been isolated and characterized, the elucidation of their presumed function in the fertilization process proved to be rather difficult.In relatively recent investigations evidence was presented that glycosidases are involved in binding of sperm to the acellular egg-coats of ascidian and mouse eggs, a step that is indispensable for successful fertilization.