GAMETOGENESIS

BY ANAGHA JOSE
CLASS – XII
REG SCIENCE
 Gametogenesis
• An organism undergoes a series of changes throughout its life
cycle. Gametogenesis (spermatogenesis and oogenesis), plays a
crucial role in humans to support the continuance of generations.
• The process involved in the maturation of the two highly
specialized cells, spermatozoon in male and ovum in the female
before they unite to form zygote, is called gametogenesis.
• Gametogenesis is the process of division of diploid cells to produce
new haploid cells. In humans, two different types of gametes are
present. Male gametes are called sperm and female gametes are
called the ovum.
 Oogenesis
• The process involved in the development of a mature ovum is called oogenesis. From
yock sac – Primitive germ cells at 3rd week
• Oogenesis is the type of gametogenesis through which ova, also called the female gametes
are formed and the produced female gamete is known as an ovum. In general terms, the
female gametes are referred to as eggs, but the word egg can involve various stages of
development, therefore, the significance of an egg varies based on the type of organisms.
• Oogenesis occurs in the outermost layers of the ovaries. Oogenesis starts with a
germ cell called oogonium and undergoes mitosis to increase in number. The
process of oogenesis takes place in the following three stages:
 Pre-natal
 Antral
 Pre-ovulatory
OOGENESIS
OOGENESIS
 Spermatogenesis
• Spermatogenesis is a process of developing male gametes, known as sperm
within the male reproductive organs, the testes. In this process, each
sperm containing a single copy of each chromosome. In order to create the
haploid gamete, a cell undergoes the process of meiosis in which the
genome is replicated and divided twice to produce four haploid gametes.
• This process generally occurs in the seminiferous tubules of the testes
following different stages. It is followed by maturation in the epididymis
where they are secreted in the form of semen along with glandular
secretions. The complete process of spermatogenesis in males are carried
out by the actions of Leydig cells, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland The
quantity of these sperms gradually reduces with the age and finally leads
to infertility.
SPERMATOGENESIS
SPERMATOGENESIS
 STRUCTURE OF SPERM
A spermatozoan is a haploid male gamete whose primary function is to fuse with ovum to restore
diploid and to transmit paternal characters to the offspring’s. A mammalian sperm is minute,
microscopic, flagellated and motile gamete with no nutritive material, protective envelopes and
most of cell- organelles like ribosome, endoplasmic reticulum, etc. The whole body of sperm is
enveloped by plasma membrane only. Structure; basically it is consists of four regions, namely
head, neck, middle piece and tail.
1. Head: head is consists of an acrosome and a nucleolus. Acrosome (Gr. Akron= extremity;
soma=body):It is small cap-like pointed structure present at the tip of nucleus. It is formed from a
part of Golgi body of spermatid. During the sperm entry, the acrosome secretes a lytic enzyme,
called hyaluronidase, which helps in the penetration of ovum. Nucleus: It is generally long, narrow
and pointed but is flat and oval in human sperm. It is formed by condensation of nuclear
chromatin of spermatid and loss of RNA, nucleolus and acidic proteins. Chemically, the nucleus is
formed of deoxyribonucleoprotein (DNA + basic proteins). It is the carrier of genetic information
2. Neck: It is the smallest part of spermatozoan and may be indistinct. It is formed of two
centrioles perpendicular to each other and is formed from the centrosome of spermatid. Each
centriole is a micro tubular triplet structure having 9 + 0 arrangement. Proximal centriole lies
in a depression in the posterior surface of the nucleus and is perpendicular to main axis of the
sperm.

3. Middle piece: It lies behind the neck and is cylindrical in the human sperm. It is formed of a
mitochondrial spiral, nebenkem, around the proximal part of axoneme. The mitochondria are
the carriers of the oxidative enzymes and the enzymes which are responsible for oxidative
phosphorylation. So the middle piece is the powerhouse of a sperm.

4. Tail (flagellum):It is the longest part of sperm. It is slender and tapering part. It is formed of
two parts. Central, contractile and micro tubular part called axoneme or axial filament, and
outer protoplasmic sheath. Axoneme is formed of 11 proteinous microtubules arranged in 9 + 2
manner. Tail shows lashing movements which provide forward push to the sperm. Sometimes,
the distal part of axoneme is uncovered and is called end piece.

Viability: It is the period up to which the sperm is able to fertilize an ovum. Viability of human
sperm is about 24 hours
STRUCTURE OF
SPERM
 OVUM
Ovum is a maternal haploid gamete and is primarily concerned with receiving the sperm and is
determined to develop into a fully developed multicellular organism after fertilization (syngamy)
or without fertilization (parthenogenesis). It is generally with reserve food and is genetically
programmed. • The egg is the female gamete, microlithic, microscopic, spherical. • Human ovum
is microlithic with large amount of cytoplasm. Cytoplasm is differentiated into outer, smaller and
transparent exoplasm or egg cortex and inner, larger and opaque endoplasm or ooplasm. Egg
cortex is with some cytoskeletal structures like microtubules and microfilaments (Belinsky, 1981),
pigment granules and cortical granules of mucopolysaccharides. Endoplasm is with cell-
organelles, informosomes, tRNAs, histones, enzymes etc. • Nucleus of ovum is large, bloated with
nucleoplasm and is called germinal vesicle. Nucleus is eccentric in position so human ovum has a
polarity. The side of ovum with nucleus and polar body is called animal pole, while the opposite
side is called vegetal pole. Egg envelopes: Human ovum is surrounded by a number of egg
envelopes:
Human ovum is surrounded by a number of egg envelopes:
1. Corona radiate: It is outer, thicker coat formed of radially elongated follicular
cells. Between the vitelline membrane and zona pellucid there is a narrow
perivitelline space Corona radiata is formed of follicle cells.
2. Zona pellucid: It is middle, thick, transparent and non-cellular. It is secreted
partly by follicular cells and partly by the oocyte.
1. Vitelline membrane: It is inner, thin, transparent and is secreted by ovum
itself.  The egg carries the chromosomes from the female parent.
STRUCTURE OF
OVA
KEY POINTS:
• Gametogenesis, the production of sperm (spermatogenesis) and eggs (oogenesis), takes
place through the process of meiosis.
• In oogenesis, diploid oogonium go through mitosis until one develops into a primary oocyte,
which will begin the first meiotic division, but then arrest; it will finish this division as it
develops in the follicle, giving rise to a haploid secondary oocyte and a smaller polar body.
• The secondary oocyte begins the second meiotic division and then arrests again; it will not
finish this division unless it is fertilized by a sperm; if this occurs, a mature ovum and
another polar body is produced.
• In spermatogenesis, diploid spermatogonia go through mitosis until they begin to develop
into gametes; eventually, one develops into a primary spermatocyte that will go through the
first meiotic division to form two haploid secondary spermatocytes.
• The secondary spermatocytes will go through a second meiotic division to each produce two
spermatids; these cells will eventually develop flagella and become mature sperm.
THANK YOU