Sperm Is The Male Reproductive: Spermatozoon

Sperm is the male reproductive cell and is derived from the Greek word () sperma (meaning
"seed"). In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and its subtype oogamy, there is a
marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm
cell. A uniflagellar sperm cell that is motile is referred to as a spermatozoon, whereas a non-motile
sperm cell is referred to as a spermatium. Sperm cells cannot divide and have a limited life span,
but after fusion with egg cells during fertilization, a new organism begins developing, starting as a
totipotent zygote. The human sperm cell is haploid, so that its 23 chromosomes can join the 23
chromosomes of the female egg to form a diploid cell. In mammals, sperm develops in the testicles
and is released from the penis.
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Video of human sperm cells recorded by an affordable home microscope.
Contents
1 Sperm in animals
1.1 Anatomy
1.2 Origin
1.3 Sperm quality
1.4 Sperm size
1.5 Market for human sperm
1.6 History
1.7 Forensic analysis
2 Sperm in plants
3 Motile sperm cells
4 Non-motile sperm cells
5 Sperm nuclei
6 Sperm centrioles
7 Sperm tail formation
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
Sperm in animals
Further information: Spermatozoon
Anatomy
Sperm and egg fusing

The mammalian sperm cell consists of a head, neck, a midpiece and a tail. The head contains the
nucleus with densely coiled chromatin fibres, surrounded anteriorly by an acrosome, which contains
enzymes used for penetrating the female egg. The neck contains the sperm centriole. The midpiece
has a central filamentous core with many mitochondria spiralled around it, used for ATP production
for the journey through the female cervix, uterus and uterine tubes. The tail or "flagellum" executes
the lashing movements that propel the spermatocyte.[1]
During fertilization, the sperm provides three essential parts to the oocyte: (1) a signalling or
activating factor, which causes the metabolically dormant oocyte to activate; (2) the haploid
paternal genome; (3) the centriole, which is responsible for forming the centrosome and
microtubule system.[2]
Although semen contains hundreds of millions of sperm, the egg will admit only one. The other
ones will die within three to five days and are absorbed by the body.
Origin
The spermatozoa of animals are produced through spermatogenesis inside the male gonads
(testicles) via meiotic division. The initial spermatozoon process takes around 70 days to complete.
The spermatid stage is where the sperm develops the familiar tail. The next stage where it becomes
fully mature takes around 60 days when it is called a spermatozoan.[3] Sperm cells are carried out
of the male body in a fluid known as semen. Human sperm cells can survive within the female
reproductive tract for more than 5 days post coitus.[4] Semen is produced in the seminal vesicles,
prostate gland and urethral glands.
In 2016 scientists at Nanjing Medical University claimed they had produced cells resembling mouse
spermatids artificially from stem cells. They injected these spermatids into mouse eggs and
produced pups.[5]
Sperm quality
Human sperm stained for semen quality testing.

Main article: Semen quality
Sperm quantity and quality are the main parameters in semen quality, which is a measure of the
ability of semen to accomplish fertilization. Thus, in humans, it is a measure of fertility in a man.
The genetic quality of sperm, as well as its volume and motility, all typically decrease with age.[6]
(See paternal age effect.)
DNA damages present in sperm cells in the period after meiosis but before fertilization may be
repaired in the fertilized egg, but if not repaired, can have serious deleterious effects on fertility and
the developing embryo. Human sperm cells are particularly vulnerable to free radical attack and the
generation of oxidative DNA damage.[7] (see e.g. 8-Oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine)
The postmeiotic phase of mouse spermatogenesis is very sensitive to environmental genotoxic
agents, because as male germ cells form mature sperm they progressively lose the ability to repair
DNA damage.[8] Irradiation of male mice during late spermatogenesis can induce damage that
persists for at least 7 days in the fertilizing sperm cells, and disruption of maternal DNA double-
strand break repair pathways increases sperm cell-derived chromosomal aberrations.[9] Treatment
of male mice with melphalan, a bifunctional alkylating agent frequently employed in chemotherapy,
induces DNA lesions during meiosis that may persist in an unrepaired state as germ cells progress
though DNA repair-competent phases of spermatogenic development.[10] Such unrepaired DNA
damages in sperm cells, after fertilization, can lead to offspring with various abnormalities.
Sperm size
Related to sperm quality is sperm size, at least in some animals. For instance, the sperm of some
species of fruit fly (Drosophila) are up to 5.8 cm long about 20 times as long as the fly itself.
Longer sperm cells are better than their shorter counterparts at displacing competitors from the
females seminal receptacle. The benefit to females is that only healthy males carry good genes
that can produce long sperm in sufficient quantities to outcompete their competitors.[11][12]

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Sperm is the male reproductive cell and is derived from the Greek word () sperma (meaning

Sperm and egg fusing

Human sperm stained for semen quality testing.

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