A gametid is a complementary gamete to the gamete that gives rise to a

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 multicellula ...

after conception. During

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 resu ...

, four gametes, or haploid cells, are the products of

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

cell division. Two gametes, one egg and one sperm, unite during conception, yielding a

. For each gamete that makes a zygote, there is a complementary gamete, or gametid. There are gametids for both egg and sperm gametes. Another word for a gametid is a nontransmitted gamete. These gametids come from the same primary gametocyte that yields the gamete that fuses to form the

. Gametids do not always develop into mature gametes. A common example of a gametid that does not develop into a mature gamete is a

polar body A polar body is a small haploid cell that is formed at the same time as an egg cell during oogenesis, but generally does not have the ability to be fertilized. It is named from its polar position in the egg. When certain diploid cells in animals ...

Gametogenesis Gametogenesis is a biological process by which diploid or haploid precursor cells undergo cell division and differentiation to form mature haploid gametes. Depending on the biological life cycle of the organism, gametogenesis occurs by meiotic d ...

is the process by which mature gametes are produced. In sequential order, gametes develop from primary gametocytes, to secondary gametocytes, to gametids, and then finally to gametes.

References

{{Reflist Germ cells