BEAKERS VERSUS BREAKERS - HOW FERTILIZATION IN THE LABORATORY DIFFERSFROM FERTILIZATION IN NATURE

The fertilisation of free-spawning invertebrates, mainly sea urchins, has been studied extensively during the last hundred years. However, r esults obtained from in vitro experiments do not always reflect what h appens in the real world. Organisms in their natural habitats have a c omplex set of challenges, cues and behaviours to contend with during f ertilisation and early development, factors that are normally not cons idered in the laboratory setting. This review examines recent work on fertilisation ecology and discusses the relevance of these results to the findings gleaned from laboratory research. Emphasis is placed on s tresses associated with fertilisation in situ, and how responses to en vironmental stresses (such as from turbulence, oxidative stress, ultra violet radiation and pathogens) might affect the fertilisation process .