ArticlePLoS biology2018
Evolutionary diversification of the HAP2 membrane insertion motifs to drive gamete fusion across eukaryotes.
Article in PLoS biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular determinants of species-specific gamete adhesion triggering HAP2-mediated membrane fusion.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Molecular understanding of plant pollination, fertilization, seed development and protoplast regeneration.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Crystal structure and nanobodies against domain 3 of the malaria parasite fusogen Plasmodium falciparum HAP2.The Biochemical journal · 2026Article
- Sexual reproduction in land plants: an evolutionary perspective.Plant reproduction · 2025Review
- Structural and antigenic characterization of Babesia Bovis HAP2 domains.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Enhanced pollen tube performance at high temperature contributes to thermotolerant fruit and seed production in tomato.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- A sexually and vegetatively reproducible diploid seedless watermelon inducer via ClHAP2 mutation.Nature plants · 2024Article
- Enhanced pollen tube performance at high temperature contributes to thermotolerant fruit production in tomato.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Novel requirements for HAP2/GCS1-mediated gamete fusion iniScience · 2024Article
- The EGF-motif-containing protein SPE-36 is a secreted sperm protein required for fertilization in C. elegans.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- A Frame-by-Frame Glance at Membrane Fusion Mechanisms: From Viral Infections to Fertilization.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- Divergent molecular signatures in fish Bouncer proteins define cross-fertilization boundaries.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Behavior of Male Gamete Fusogen GCS1/HAP2 and the Regulation inBiomolecules · 2023Article
- Eukaryotic fertilization and gamete fusion at a glance.Journal of cell science · 2022Article
- DMP8 and 9 regulate HAP2/GCS1 trafficking for the timely acquisition of sperm fusion competence.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Malaria parasites utilize two essential plasma membrane fusogens for gamete fertilization.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2022Article
- Uncovering an ancestral green ménage à trois: Contributions of Chlamydomonas to the discovery of a broadly conserved triad of plant fertilization proteins.Current opinion in plant biology · 2022Review
- Monomeric prefusion structure of an extremophile gamete fusogen and stepwise formation of the postfusion trimeric state.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Discovery of archaeal fusexins homologous to eukaryotic HAP2/GCS1 gamete fusion proteins.Nature communications · 2022Article
- A bioactive phlebovirus-like envelope protein in a hookworm endogenous virus.Science advances · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
HAPLESS2 (HAP2) is a broadly conserved, gamete-expressed transmembrane protein that was shown recently to be structurally homologous to viral class II fusion proteins, which initiate fusion with host cells via insertion of fusion loops into the host membrane. However, the functional conformation of the HAP2 fusion loops has remained unknown, as the reported X-ray structure of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii HAP2 lacked this critical region. Here, we report a structure-guided alignment that reveals diversification of the proposed HAP2 fusion loops. Representative crystal structures show that in flowering plants, HAP2 has a single prominent fusion loop projecting an amphipathic helix at its apex, while in trypanosomes, three small nonpolar loops of HAP2 are poised to interact with the target membrane. A detailed structure-function analysis of the Arabidopsis HAP2 amphipathic fusion helix defines key residues that are essential for membrane insertion and for gamete fusion. Our study suggests that HAP2 may have evolved multiple modes of membrane insertion to accommodate the diversity of membrane environments it has encountered during eukaryotic evolution.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.