NTU Undergraduates' research April 2014 - Biosciences | Seite 71

Reptile Zona Pellucida: A molecular and bioinformatics approach
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Abstract
An unfertilized egg has a thick membranous outer later called the Zona Pellucida (ZP). This area is of
interest because of the variance within the ZP domain that controls sperm-egg interaction, and on a
grander scale genetic variation and species specific mating. Although there has been many disputes
regarding the nomenclature of the genes found within the ZP domain, ZP1, ZP2 and ZP3 are widely
used. Till now research has mainly covered mammals, birds and fish, even though the ZP domain is
found within all vertebrates. For this reason this study is focused on reptilian ZP1 genes. To conduct
this research, reptilian DNA was purified from snake skins and primer design was conducted to flank
exon 3 (which has shown the most variance) within the ZP1 gene. Phylogenetic analysis was also
conducted. Results proved expression of the ZP1 gene can be found in the Liver of the organism,
where prior ovarian granulosa and oocyte expression was presumed. A repeating unit within the
glycoprotein ZP1 region has been highlighted and the Python (Python regius) ZP1 gene has been
predicted.
Key Words: Reptile, ZP1, expression, cDNA, Bioinformatics.
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