In the unicellular biflagellated alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, gametolysin, a zinc-containing metallo-protease, is responsible for the degradation of the cell wall. Homologues of gametolysin have also been reported in the simple multicellular organism, Volvox.

1: Genealogical relationships among laboratory strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as inferred from matrix metalloprotease genes. Kubo T, Abe J, Saito T, Matsuda Y; Curr Genet 2002;41:115-122. PMID:12073093

2: Two tandemly-located matrix metalloprotease genes with different expression patterns in the chlamydomonas sexual cell cycle. Kubo T, Saito T, Fukuzawa H, Matsuda Y; Curr Genet 2001;40:136-143. PMID:11680823

3: An extracellular matrix-localized metalloproteinase with an exceptional QEXXH metal binding site prefers copper for catalytic activity. Heitzer M, Hallmann A; J Biol Chem 2002;277:28280-28286. PMID:12034745

4: Transcriptional activation by the sexual pheromone and wounding: a new gene family from Volvox encoding modular proteins with (hydroxy)proline-rich and metalloproteinase homology domains. Hallmann A, Amon P, Godl K, Heitzer M, Sumper M; Plant J 2001;26:583-593. PMID:11489172