Gamete
Haploid cell fusing during sexual reproduction.
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In sexually reproducing organisms, fertilization involves the fusion of two haploid cells, each called a gamete.[1] Eduard Strasburger, a German cytologist, first used the term "gamete" in 1878.[1] Ova (or egg cells) are the female gametes, while sperm are the male gametes.[2]
Quick Facts
- Type
- Reproductive cell
- Introduced by
- Eduard Strasburger
- Ploidy
- Haploid
- Female form
- Ovum or egg cell
- Male form
- Sperm
- Key processes
- Oogenesis (female), Spermatogenesis (male)
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
An organism's sex is determined by the type of gamete it produces, which also establishes the foundation for sexual roles and selection.[2] Egg cells are large and lack motility, whereas sperm cells are motile, using a tail-like flagellum for movement.[3] In animals, ovaries are the site of ovum production, and testes are where sperm develop.[3] A haploid ovum is produced through the meiotic process of oogenesis, which begins with a diploid primary oocyte.[3]
Haploid spermatozoa are created via spermatogenesis, a meiotic process starting from a diploid primary spermatocyte.[3] A new diploid organism, the zygote, is formed when a sperm and an ovum unite during fertilization.[3] The ancestral state from which anisogamy and oogamy evolved is widely considered to be isogamy.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Gamete" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "In brief: How are sex cells made (meiosis)?", InformedHealth.org [Internet], 30 January 2023; "gamete / gametes Learn Science at Scitable", www.nature.com; "gamete Etymology of gamete by etymonline", www.etymonline.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gamete" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "8.4 Sex: It's About the Gametes", The Evolution and Biology of Sex; "The Biology of Reproduction", Cambridge University Press, 2019-10-10, p. 111–112; "gamete / gametes Learn Science at Scitable", www.nature.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gamete" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "gamete / gametes Learn Science at Scitable", www.nature.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gamete" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sperm Biology: An Evolutionary Perspective", Academic Press, 2008, p. 43–44; "Textbook of Algae", Vikas Publishing House, p. 363; "Living at Micro Scale: The Unexpected Physics of Being Small", Harvard University Press, May 2024, p. 309; "The Evolution of Sex and its Consequences", Birkhäuser, 2013-11-21, p. 21, 81–82; "Gamete competition, gamete limitation, and the evolution of the two sexes", Molecular Human Reproduction, December 2014, p. 1161–1168; "A Mind Of Her Own: The evolutionary psychology of women", OUP Oxford, 2013-05-16, p. 45; "Se en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Gamete (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Gamete (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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