The spermatid is the haploid male gametid that results from division of secondary

spermatocyte Spermatocytes are a type of male gametocyte in animals. They derive from immature germ cells called spermatogonia. They are found in the testis, in a structure known as the seminiferous tubules. There are two types of spermatocytes, primary and ...

s. As a result of

meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately r ...

, each spermatid contains only half of the genetic material present in the original primary spermatocyte. Spermatids are connected by cytoplasmic material and have superfluous cytoplasmic material around their nuclei. When formed, ''early round spermatids'' must undergo further maturational events to develop into

spermatozoa A spermatozoon (; also spelled spermatozoön; ; ) is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote. (A zygote is a single cell, with a complete set of chromos ...

, a process termed spermiogenesis (also termed ''spermeteliosis''). The spermatids begin to grow a living thread, develop a thickened mid-piece where the mitochondria become localised, and form an

acrosome The acrosome is an organelle that develops over the anterior (front) half of the head in the spermatozoa (sperm cells) of many animals including humans. It is a cap-like structure derived from the Golgi apparatus. In placental mammals the acrosome ...

. Spermatid DNA also undergoes packaging, becoming highly condensed. The DNA is packaged firstly with specific nuclear basic proteins, which are subsequently replaced with

protamines Protamines are small, arginine-rich, nuclear proteins that replace histones late in the haploid phase of spermatogenesis and are believed essential for sperm head condensation and DNA stabilization. They may allow for denser packaging of DNA in t ...

during spermatid elongation. The resultant tightly packed

chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...

is transcriptionally inactive. In 2016 scientists at Nanjing Medical University claimed they had produced cells resembling mouse spermatids artificially from

stem cells In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...

. They injected these spermatids into mouse eggs and produced pups.

DNA repair

As postmeiotic

germ cell Germ or germs may refer to: Science * Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen * Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually * Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during emb ...

s develop to mature sperm they progressively lose the ability to repair DNA damage that may then accumulate and be transmitted to the

zygote A zygote (, ) is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individual organism. In multicell ...

and ultimately the embryo. In particular, the repair of DNA double-strand breaks by the non-homologous end joining pathway, although present in round spermatids, appears to be lost as they develop into elongated spermatids.

Additional images

File:Gray's 7 (ovum maturation).svg, Scheme showing analogies in the process of maturation of the ovum and the development of the Genyo spermatids (young

)

References

External links

* - "Male Reproductive System: testis, early spermatids" * - "Male Reproductive System: testis, late spermatids"
Histology at okstate.edu
{{Male reproductive system Reproductive system Germ cells Andrology