gametes

     

A gamete (from Ancient Greek γαμετης; translate gamete = wife, gametes = husband) is a cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete—called an ovum (or egg)—and a male produces the smaller tadpole-like type—called a sperm. This is an example of anisogamy or heterogamy, the condition wherein females and males produce gametes of different sizes (this is the case in humans, the human ovum is approximately 20 times larger than the human sperm cell). In contrast, isogamy is the state of gametes from both sexes being the same size. The name gamete was introduced by the Austrian biologist Gregor Mendel. Gametes carry half the genetic information of an individual, one chromosome of each type. In humans an ovum can only carry X chromosome (of the X and Y chromosomes) where as a sperm can carry either an X or a Y, hence, it has been suggested that males have the control of the gender of any resulting zygote as the genotype of the sex-determining chromosomes of a male must be XY and a female XX.

Trivia about gametes

  • During fertilization, two of these cells, one each from the male & female, unite to form a zygote
  • 2 of these sexual reproductive cells, from the Greek for "marriage", join to create a zygote
  • A zygote is produced by the union of 2 of these sex cells, an egg & a sperm

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