Spermatogenesis

• Spermatogenesis - or simply sperm production
• Spermatogenesis - begins during puberty and continues throughout life
• What part of the reproductive system does the sperm formed?

  Seminiferous Tubules
• Spermatogonia - a primitive stem cells found in the periphery of each tubule
• Follicle-Stimulating Hormone - a tropic hormone that targets the testes and stimulates sperm production
• What type of stem cells produce after each division of a spermatogonium?

  Type A daughter cells, Type B daughter cells
• Type A cells - remain at the tubule periphery to maintain the stem cell population
• Type B cells - gets pushed toward the tubule lumen, destined to become sperm cells
• Primary Spermatocyte - rises from type B cells, destined to undergo meiosis and form four sperm
• Meiosis - a special type of nuclear division that occurs only in the gonads
• Spermatids - the gametes in the spermatogenesis
• Zygote - when a sperm and an egg unite to form a fertilized egg
• Spermiogenesis - the last stage of sperm development where the excess cytoplasm of the spermatid is stripped aways and a tail is formed
• What are the three regions of the fully formed sperm?

  Head, Midpiece, Tail
• Acrosome - found anterior to the nucleus and is helmetlike, which is produced by the Golgi apparatus
• Filaments - form the long tail, arise from centrioles in the midpiece