This book provides new insights into the universality of biological systems in animal reproduction and development by a comparative study of a variety of mechanisms in animals ranging from basal invertebrates to vertebrates, including mammals.

Preface.- Acknowledgments.- Part 1 Diversity in Reproductive Strategies and Germ Cell Differentiation Mechanisms.- Chapter1. Germ cell formation in solitary ascidians: coexistence of preformation and epigenesis.- Chapter2. Regulatory mechanisms of the germline stem cell niche in Drosophila melanogaster.- Chapter3. Regulation of germline stem cells in the teleost- gametogenesis, sex and fecundity -.- Chapter4. Regulatory mechanism of spermatogenic stem cells in mice: their dynamic and context-dependent behavior.- Chapter5. Nutritional control of the germline development in Caenorhabditis elegans.- Chapter6. Seasonal regulation of reproduction in vertebrates: Special focus on avian strategy.- Chapter7. Roles of germline stem cells and somatic multipotent stem cells in Hydra sexual reproduction.- Chapter8. Reproductive strategies in marine hydrozoan jellyfish: sexual medusae and asexual polyps.- Chapter9. Reproductive strategies in planarians: Insights gained from the bioassay system for sexual induction in asexual Dugesia ryukyuensis worms.- Chapter10. Reproductive strategies in Annelida: germ cell formation and regeneration.- Chapter11. Reproductive strategies in social amoeba.- Part 2 Diversity in the Sex Determination and Differentiation.- Chapter12. Environmental control on sex differentiation in Daphnia.- Chapter13. Sex determination cascade in insects: a great treasure house of alternative splicing.- Chapter14. Genetic control on sex determination and differentiation in fish.- Chapter15. Endocrine and environmental control of sex differentiation in gonochoristic fish.- Chapter16. Variety of sex change in tropical fish.- Chapter17. Sex determination and differentiation in frogs.- Chapter18. Environmental control on sex determination and differentiation in reptiles.- Chapter19. Sex determination and differentiation in birds.- Chapter20. Sex determination and differentiation in mammals.- Part 3 Diversity in the Mechanism of Fertilization.- Chapter21. Modulation of sperm motility and function prior to fertilization.- Chapter22. Postcopulatory reproductive strategies in spermatozoa.- Chapter23. Ascidian sexual reproductive strategies: Mechanisms of sperm-egg interaction and self-sterility.- Chapter24. Universality and diversity of a fast, electrical block to polyspermy during animal fertilization.- Chapter25. Preparing for fertilization: Intercellular signals for oocyte maturation.- Chapter26. Regulation of sperm-egg fusion at the plasma membrane.- Chapter27. Fertilization and Protein-tyrosine Kinase Signaling: Are They Merging or Emerging?.- Part 4 Diversity in Axis Formation.- Chapter28. Early embryonic Axis Formation in a Simple Chordate Ascidian.- Chapter29. Recent advances in hagfish developmental biology in a historical context: implications for understanding the evolution of the vertebral elements.- Chapter30. Left-right specification in the embryonic and larval development of amphibians.- Chapter31. The molecular basis of the gastrula organizer in amphibians and cnidarians.- Chapter32. Axis formation and its evolution in ray-finned fish.- Chapter33. Post-embryonic axis formation in planarians.- Chapter34. Larval and Adult Body Axes in Echinoderms.