Researchers have identified a key enzyme in the fertilization process of sea urchin eggs, which represent a common model for animal fertilization, according to a study published in the December 7 issue of
Working on two species of urchins,
"This respiratory burst has been a puzzle since the beginning of the century," Victor Vacquier from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., who did not participate in the study, told