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The female reproductive system has two functions: The first is to produce egg cells, and the second is to protect and nourish the offspring until birth. The male reproductive system has one function, and it is to produce and deposit sperm. Humans have a high level of sexual differentiation.
For fertilization to occur, sperm cells rely on hyaluronidase (an enzyme found in the acrosome of spermatozoa) to disperse the corona radiata from the zona pellucida of the secondary (ovulated) oocyte, thus permitting entry into the perivitelline space and allowing contact between the sperm cell and the nucleus of the oocyte.
Depending on the animal species, the process can occur within the body of the female in internal fertilization, or outside in the case of external fertilization. The fertilized egg cell is known as the zygote. [2] [5] To prevent more than one sperm fertilizing the egg , fast block and slow block to polyspermy are used. Fast block, the membrane ...
Sexual reproduction in flowering plants involves the union of the male and female germ cells, sperm and egg cells respectively. Pollen is produced in stamens and is carried to the pistil or carpel, which has the ovule at its base where fertilization can take place. Within each pollen grain is a male gametophyte, which consists of only three cells.
The zona pellucida is a translucent matrix of cross-linked glycoprotein filaments that surrounds the mammalian oocyte and is 6.5–20 μm thick depending on the species. Its formation, which depends on a conserved zona pellucida-like (ZP) module that mediates the polymerization of egg coat components, [2] is critical to successful fertilization. [3]
The gonads and external genitals are derived from the intermediate mesoderm. [7] The three main fetal precursors of the reproductive organs are the Wolffian duct, the Müllerian ducts, and the gonads. Endocrine hormones are a well-known and critical controlling factor in the normal differentiation of the reproductive system. [8]
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The egg cell or ovum (pl.: ova) is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, [1] in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is not capable of movement (non- motile ).