Reproduction in animals

Reproduction : The process of formation of

offspring.
Reproduction mainly are of two types, Asexual
and Sexual reproduction.
Asexual reproduction involves one individual
while sexual reproduction involves two
individuals. Most of the multicellular organisms
reproduce sexually. In this case, new individuals
or offsprings are produced as a result of fusion
of two gametes (male sperm and female
ovum).
Sperms are produced in testis and
ovum is produced in ovary. In some animals
testes and ovaries are present within the same
individual. Such a condition is known as
Hermaphrodism. The condition where female
and male organs are seen in different
individuals is known as Gonochorism.
The major features of sexual reproduction –
 It involves two parents.
 Reproductive units are single haploid cells
(gametes).
 Cell division involves both mitosis and
meiosis.
 It brings about genetic variation in the
offspring. So the young ones may different
from their parents.
Sexual reproduction involves 3 fundamental
processes:
(1) Gametogenesis
(2) Fertilization
(3) Embryogenesis
Gametogenesis is the formation of haploid
gametes from diploid reproductive cells or it
involves the reduction of chromosome number
from diploid to haploid which is brought about
by meiosis. Gametogenesis involves
spermatogenesis and oogenesis.
Fertilization is the process by which male and
female gametes meet and fuse to form a
diploid cell called zygote.
Embryogenesis is the development of zygote
into an individual organism by various mitotic
divisions.
The entire development history of an organism
from zygote to an individual is called ontogeny.
>Gametes
(1) Structure of male gamete or sperm :
Sperms are actively moving haploid cells. The
structure of sperms is highly variable in
different groups of animals. Human sperm is
slender, motile, flagellated with a total length
of 55.65 micrometer in length. The mammalian
sperm is a typical flagellated structure with 3
regions – head, middle piece and tail.
In some nematodes, mites and centipedes tail
is absent. Hence the sperms are aflagellated.
a) Head :
Sperm head contains a haploid nucleus called
male pronucleus. Surrounding it is a thin film of
cytoplasm. ER, ribosome, mitochondria,
centriole, etc are absent in the head region.
Just in front of the nucleus and covering portion
of it is a cap like structure called acrosome.
Acrosome is a modification of Golgi complex.
The acrosome is bounded by a membrane
called acrosomal membrane which is filled with
a powerful enzyme (hyaluronidase). This
enzyme can dissolve the egg membrane and
make the way to the entry of sperm into ovum
during fertilization.
 b) Middle Piece :
The middle piece/neck region contains
centrioles and mitochondria. Centrioles are of
two types – distal centriole and proximal
centriole.
Distal centriole is present in the posterior
region and helps in tail formation.
Proximal centriole is present in the anterior
region and helps jn the formation of spindle
fibres for chromosomal movement.
Mitochondria is spirally arranged and is called
Nebenkern.
c) Tail :
It is a long and vibrating flagellum seen at the
distal portion of the sperm. The flagellum
provides motility for the sperm. The tail has a
central axis known as axoneme surrounded by
protoplasmic sheath.Axonemal filaments arises
from the distal centriole which is composed of
11 microtubules with 2 at the centre and 9 at
the periphery. The axonemal filament
ensheathened within the cytoplasm sheath is
called axoneme. The axoneme forms the tail
region towards the distal portion.

(2) Structure of mammalian ovum :

It is a large and stationary haploid cell with a
limiting membrane called oolemma. This
oolemma is surrounded by additional
membrane called accessory egg membrane,
i.e. primary( vitelline membrane) and
secondary(zona pellucida).
The vitelline membrane is secreted by the
ovum which is surrounded by an albuminous
coat called zona pellucida which is secreted
by follicle cells/nurse cells of the ovary.
Around the pellucida there is a layer of
radially arranged cells called corona radiata.
These cells are cemented together and held
in by hyaluronic acid. The cytoplasm of egg is
called ooplasm. It has an outer cortex and
inner medullary region. Cortical ooplasm is
free of cell organelles but it contains
numerous granular bodies called cortical
granules. Medullary ooplasm contains a
haploid female pronucleus often called
germinal vesicle and cellular constituents like
ER, Golgi bodies, ribosomes, mitochondria,
etc.
The egg of some terrestrial animals have a
hard shell proteins and the storage of water
and nutrients for easy development. Such
eggs are called shelled/cleidoic eggs. Eg :-
Birds, reptiles, etc. In them water is stored in
a fluid filled bag called amnion. So cleidoic
eggs are also called amniodes.
  Yolk in ovum/deutoplasm :
Almost all ovum contains yolk(deutoplasm) in
varying amounts. It is a food reserved mainly
formed of proteins, carbohydrates, fats. Based
on the quantity of yolk, ovum can be classified
into microlecithal, mesolecithal and
macrolecithal.
Microlecithal : less amount of yolk.
Eg :- mammalian egg
Mesolecithal : moderate amount of yolk.
Eg :- amphibian egg
Macrolecithal : large amount of yolk.
Eg :- birds, reptiles
Based on distribution of yolk, ova can be
classified into homo/isolecithal, centrolecithal
and telolecithal.
(A) Isolecithal/homolecithal : uniformly
distributed yolk in the ovum.
 Eg :- mammalian ovum
(B) Centrolecithal : yolk at the centre of
ovum. Eg :- insects
(C) Telolecithal : yolk is restricted to one pole.
Eg :- amphibians, reptiles, birds
Telolecithal eggs have two distant halves due to
the restricted distribution of yolk within the
ovum, i.e. animal hemisphere and vegetal
hemisphere. The yolk is concentrated towards
the vegetal hemisphere while the cellular
organelles towards the animal hemisphere.