Fertilization in C. elegans requires an intact C-terminal RING finger in sperm protein SPE-42

Abstract

The results suggest that a bona fide RING domain is present at the C-terminus of the SPE-42 protein and that this motif is required for sperm-egg interactions during C. elegans fertilization. Our structural model of the RING domain provides a starting point for further structure-function analysis of this critical region of the protein. The C-terminal domain swap experiment suggests that the incompatibility between the C. elegans and C. briggsae SPE-42 proteins is caused by small amino acid differences outside the C-terminal domain.