User:Anonymouslycool22/Gamete

Gametes

Original Article: Gamete

(This section of the article has been edited.)

A gamete (/ˈɡæmiːt/; from Ancient Greek γαμετή (gametḗ) 'wife', ultimately from Ancient Greek γάμος (gámos) 'marriage') is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. The name gamete was introduced by the German cytologist Eduard Strasburger in 1894.

Gametes of both mating individuals can be the same size and shape, a condition known as isogamy. By contrast, in the majority of species, the gametes are of different sizes, a condition known as anisogamy or heterogamy that applies to humans and other mammals. The human ovum has approximately 100,000 times the volume of a single human sperm cell. The type of gamete an organism produces determines its sex and sets the basis for the sexual roles and sexual selection. In humans and other species that produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual that produces the larger type of gamete called an ovum, and a male produces the smaller type, called a sperm cell or spermatozoon. Sperm cells are small and motile due to the presence of a tail-shaped structure, the flagellum, that provides propulsion. In contrast, each egg cell or ovum is relatively large and non-motile.

Oogenesis, the process of female gamete formation in animals, involves meiosis (including meiotic recombination) of a diploid primary oocyte to produce a haploid ovum. Spermatogenesis, the process of male gamete formation in animals, involves meiosis in a diploid primary spermatocyte to produce haploid spermatozoa. In animals, ova are produced in the ovaries of females and sperm develop in the testes of males. During fertilization, a spermatozoon and an ovum, each carrying half of the genetic information of an individual, unite to form a zygote that develops into a new diploid organism.

Evolution of Gametes

(This section of the article has been edited.)

Main article: Evolution of sexual reproduction

Reproduction can still exist without the concept of sex. There are many alternatives to sexual reproduction, and most of the other forms of reproduction are still presently used. Although sexual reproduction is one of the most complex forms of reproduction used in life on Earth, this complex procedure all comes down to the combination of two individual's gametes.  

Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells. These reproductive cells come from a process known as meiosis, and during the process of meiosis the parental gametes share genetic information. Meiosis is the process of genetic cell division, and this is the process that begins the usage of gametes.

It is generally accepted that isogamy is the ancestral state from which anisogamy and oogamy evolved, although its evolution has left no fossil records. There are almost invariably only two gamete types, all analyses showing that intermediate gamete sizes are eliminated due to selection. Since intermediate sized gametes do not have the same advantages as small or large ones, they do worse than small ones in mobility and numbers, and worse than large ones in supply.

Gametic Cells, and Somatic Cells

(This section of the article has been edited.)

In contrast to a gamete, which has only one set of chromosomes, a diploid somatic cell has two sets of homologous chromosomes, one of which is a copy of the chromosome set from the sperm and one a copy of the chromosome set from the egg cell. Recombination of the genes during meiosis ensures that the chromosomes of gametes are not exact duplicates of either of the sets of chromosomes carried in the parental diploid chromosomes but a mixture of the two.

A few examples of organisms that have gametes are plants, mammals, algae, and fungi. A type of plant that has gametes is called an angiosperm, and an example species would be a Sacred Lotus. All mammals produce gametes through their gonads, and a specific example would be humans. Algal species that do require sexual reproduction have motile gametes with the use of a flagella, and an example of a gametic algal species is green algae. Lastly, some fungi have gametes with the use of specialized sex organs called gametangia, and a type of fungal species that has gametic cells are ascomycetes.

Somatic cells are contained in all living organisms. A few examples of the use of somatic cells in an organisms body is organ tissue, muscle tissue, bones, and blood. Examples of plant somatic cells are stem tissue, roots, and petal tissue. Somatic cells are the excess cells that create an organism's structure other than the gametic cells which come from gonadal cells created by meiosis.

Sexual Determination in Mammals, and Reptiles

(This section of the article has been edited.)

Most mammals, including humans, use the XY sex-determination system in which a normal ovum can carry only an X chromosome whereas a sperm may carry either an X or a Y. Thus the male sperm determines the sex of any resulting zygote. If the zygote has two X chromosomes it will develop into a female. If it has an X and a Y chromosome, it will develop into a male.

For birds, the female ovum determines the sex of the offspring, through the ZW sex-determination system. There are two reasonable mechanisms for a birds' sexual determination. Those include gonadal differentiation, and developmental during embryogenesis. One mechanism shows a surplus of genes on the Z - chromosome leads to sexual determination, and the other is based on the dominance of the W-linked gene that determines the sex. The hypothesis that most likely suits the avian sexual determination is a gonadal differentiation.

In relation to the avian organisms, how is a reptiles sex determined? Reptilian sex is determined by environmental pressures after the process of fertilization. To give a recap, although avian genetics coding is labeled with Z/W, the reptilian chromosomes are labeled with X/Y. For most reptilian species the sex is determined by the temperatures that are endured while developing in the egg. This mechanism goes for most turtles, and crocodilians. Male reptiles will be born at cooler temperatures, and female reptiles will be born at warmer temperatures in most scenarios but this could be altered by the species.

Artificial Gametes

(This section of the article has been edited.)

Artificial gametes, also known as in vitro derived gametes (IVD), stem cell-derived gametes (SCDGs), and in vitro generated gametes (IVG), are gametes derived from stem cells. The use of such artificial gametes would "necessarily require IVF techniques". Research shows that artificial gametes may be a reproductive technique for same-sex male couples, although a surrogate mother would still be required for the gestation period. Women who have passed menopause may be able to produce eggs and bear genetically related children with artificial gametes. Robert Sparrow wrote, in the Journal of Medical Ethics, that embryos derived from artificial gametes could be used to derive new gametes and this process could be repeated to create multiple human generations in the laboratory. This technique could be used to create cell lines for medical applications and for studying the heredity of genetic disorders. Additionally, this technique could be used for human enhancement by selectively breeding for a desired genome or by using recombinant DNA technology to create enhancements that have not arisen in nature.

Plants

(This section of the article has not been edited.)

Plants that reproduce sexually also produce gametes. However, since plants have a life cycle involving alternation of diploid and haploid generations some differences from animal life cycles exist. Plants use meiosis to produce spores that develop into multicellular haploid gametophytes which produce gametes by mitosis. In animals there is no corresponding multicellular haploid phase. The sperm of plants that reproduce using spores are formed by mitosis in an organ of the gametophyte known as the antheridium and the egg cells by mitosis in a flask-shaped organ called the archegonium. Plant sperm cells are their only motile cells, often described as flagellate, but more correctly as ciliate. Bryophytes have 2 flagella, horsetails have up to 200 and the mature spermatozoa of the cycad Zamia pumila has up to 50,000 flagella. Cycads and Ginkgo biloba are the only gymnosperms with motile sperm. In the flowering plants, the female gametophyte is produced inside the ovule within the ovary of the flower. When mature, the haploid gametophyte produces female gametes which are ready for fertilization. The male gametophyte is produced inside a pollen grain within the anther and is non-motile, but can be distributed by wind, water or animal vectors. When a pollen grain lands on a mature stigma of a flower it germinates to form a pollen tube that grows down the style into the ovary of the flower and then into the ovule. The pollen then produces non-motile sperm nuclei by mitosis that are transported down the pollen tube to the ovule where they are released for fertilization of the egg cell.

See also[edit source]

• Coenogamete

Notes and references

(The source section has not been thoroughly edited yet.)

1. "gamete | Definition, Formation, Examples, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. "gamete / gametes | Learn Science at Scitable". www.nature.com. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
3. Cotner, Sehoya; Wassenberg, Deena, "8.4 Sex: It's About the Gametes", The Evolution and Biology of Sex, retrieved 20 October 2020
4. Fusco, Giuseppe; Minelli, Alessandro (10 October 2019). The Biology of Reproduction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-1-108-49985-9.
5. Pitnick, Scott S.; Hosken, Dave J.; Birkhead, Tim R. (2008). Sperm Biology: An Evolutionary Perspective. Academic Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0-08-091987-4.
6. Kumar, Awasthi & Ashok. Textbook of Algae. Vikas Publishing House. p. 363. ISBN 978-93-259-9022-7.
7. Dusenbery, David B.; Dusenbery, Professor of Biology Emeritus David B. (2009). Living at Micro Scale: The Unexpected Physics of Being Small. Harvard University Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-674-03116-6.
8. Stearns, S. C. (21 November 2013). The Evolution of Sex and its Consequences. Birkhäuser. pp. 21, 81–82. ISBN 978-3-0348-6273-8.
9. Lehtonen J, Parker GA (2014). "Gamete competition, gamete limitation, and the evolution of the two sexes". Molecular Human Reproduction. 20 (12): 1161–1168. doi:10.1093/molehr/gau068. PMID 25323972.
10. Campbell, Anne (16 May 2013). A Mind Of Her Own: The evolutionary psychology of women. OUP Oxford. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-19-164701-7.
11. Bachtrog, Doris; Mank, Judith E.; Peichel, Catherine L.; Kirkpatrick, Mark; Otto, Sarah P.; Ashman, Tia-Lynn; Hahn, Matthew W.; Kitano, Jun; Mayrose, Itay; Ming, Ray; Perrin, Nicolas (1 July 2014). "Sex Determination: Why So Many Ways of Doing It?". PLOS Biology. 12 (7): e1001899. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001899. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 4077654. PMID 24983465. S2CID 3741933.
12. Consequently, the cells of the offspring have genes potentially capable of expressing some of the characteristics of both the father and the mother, subject to whether they are dominant or recessive.
13. Jay Phelan (30 April 2009). What Is Life?: A Guide to Biology W/Prep-U. Macmillan. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-4292-2318-8. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
14. Newson, A J; Smajdor, A C (2005). "Artificial gametes: new paths to parenthood?". Journal of Medical Ethics. 31 (3): 184–186. doi:10.1136/jme.2003.004986. PMC 1734101. PMID 15738444. Pregnancies brought about by means of artificial gametes would necessarily require IVF techniques
15. Sparrow, Robert (4 April 2013). "In vitro eugenics". Journal of Medical Ethics. 40 (11): 725–31. doi:10.1136/medethics-2012-101200. PMID 23557913. S2CID 959092. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
16. Sporne, K.R. (2022). The morphology of Pteridophytes; the structure of ferns and allied plants. Legare Street Press. ISBN 978-1015505667.
17. Wolniak, Stephen M.; Klink, Vincent P.; Hart, Peter E.; Tsai, Chia-Wei (2000). "Control of development and motility in the spermatozoids of lower plants". Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin. 13 (2): 85–93. PMID 11543285.
18. Norstog (1986). "The blepharoplast of Zamia pumila L.". Botanical Gazette. 147 (1): 40–46. doi:10.1086/337566. S2CID 85257438.
19. InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. How are sex cells made (meiosis)? 2019 Apr 11. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541152/
20. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "gamete". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/science/gamete. Accessed 25 March 2024.
21. Angiosperms (flowering plants). Digital Atlas of Ancient Life. (2021a, August 24). https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/embryophytes/angiosperms/  
22. Andersen, Robert A. and Lewin, Ralph A.. "algae". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/science/algae. Accessed 25 March 2024.
23. Moore, David , Ahmadjian, Vernon and Alexopoulos, Constantine John. "fungus". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/science/fungus. Accessed 25 March 2024.
24. Kuroiwa, Asato. “Sex-Determining Mechanism in Avians.” Advances in experimental medicine and biology vol. 1001 (2017): 19-31. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-3975-1_2
25. Gilbert SF. Developmental Biology. 6th edition. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates; 2000. Environmental Sex Determination. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9989/
26. Professor Robert Sparrow. Robert Sparrow. (2019, June 27). https://robsparrow.com/

Article Draft: Gamete

Original Article: Gamete

Lead:

Introduction:

Does the lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?

Yes, the leading sentence of the introduction does clearly describe the topic of gametes, and how they came about in the study of science.  

Does the lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Does the lead include information that is not present in the article? (It shouldn't.)

No, the lead paragraph does not briefly describe the articles major sections. The lead does not introduce any information that cannot be found further in the article. All the information in the lead can be found with an explanation.  

Is the lead concise or is it overly detailed?

The lead of the articles needs the information included to be broken down. The lead has the correct information but there is not enough emphasis on it, and it is easy to get lost in the way it is written. The information is not the problem, it is just missing a few explanations.

Article Content:

Content:

Is the article's content relevant to the topic?

Yes, the article's content is relative to the topic. All of the information included can be related back to the study of gametes.

Is the content up-to-date?

Majority of the resources used were from the past 10 years of research, and some were from 15 years ago. But overall most of the information gathered is relatively up-to-date.  

Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

There is some content missing from this article. There are forms of sex determination that could be further explained, there is some basic cell-to-cell information that could be elaborated on, and there is a big gap in history that is missing.

Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

I do not believe that this article deals with one of Wikipedia’s equity gaps. The study of gametes is well known in science, and it does have a lot of experiments conducted on it. So this information is greatly shared among the science community, and it is thoroughly expressed. The study of gametes is very well represented in the science world.

Tone and Balance:

Is the article neutral?

This scientific article is very neutral.  

Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

There are no claims in this article that appear heavily biased.

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

Yes, there are viewpoints that are overly represented. In this article there is a great elaboration on the subtopics of artificial gametes, and plants. But for the other subtopics that should be elaborated on there is just not enough information to be spared in the article.

Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such?

I do not believe there are any fringe viewpoints described in this article.

Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

This article does not attempt to persuade the reader in any favorable position. The article is very straightforward with its information.

Organizing and Writing Quality:

Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?

This article could use some critiquing to the way it is written. The leading paragraph could use some elaboration, and rephrasing. The subtopics in the article need more information, and elaboration to be understood thoroughly. Some parts of the article are quite hefty, and need to be lightened. But overall the information is well adapted, and just needs to be worked on.

Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?

The article does include some grammatical, and spelling errors. But it is nothing to be over the top about.

Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

The article is broken down into good subtopics about gametes. The subtopics just need more information included in them.  

Images and Media:

Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?

The article only includes two images. I believe it could use a few more images based on the Wikipedia copyright regulations.  

Are images well-captioned?

The images do include a well-informed caption.

Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?

Yes, the images do adhere to the regulations.

Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

The images are the first item to be seen in the article. I believe the image could be critiqued in its formatting.

Informational Thoughts:

Talk Page Discussion:

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

Behind the scenes of this article there is a lot of talk on how to critique the work, and how to rephrase the information pursued on the topic of gametes. It is not harsh criticism but it is beneficial help offered by the science community.  

How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

This article is rated as part of the Start-Class content. It is included in the Molecular Biology, and the Animal Anatomy WikiProjects.  

How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Wikipedia discusses the topic of gametes by jumping right into the information by explaining the definition, this then is elaborated into the subtopics of gametes. But the information explained in the subtopics is not elaborated on, and cut too short for anything to be comprehended. In a classroom this would be taught differently. First an introduction of what a gamete is would be explained, and then we would work into how a gamete is processed though the works of science, and how it came about. Once the concept of what a gamete is, and where it comes from the subtopics would then be tied into the information already explained.  

Overall Impression:

What is the article's overall status?

This article definitely needs some improvement on how it represents the topic of gametes.

What are the article's strengths?

The article does have some great subtopics, and some beneficial vocabulary but this information needs to be clearly elaborated on. The information included in the  article is also beneficial to the topic; it just needs to be rephrased.    

How can the article be improved?

The article can be improved by rephrasing the information, elaborating on specific subtopics, giving specific words a definition so they can be understood, the article needs a few visual representations for the viewers benefit, and lastly some of the citations needed to be redone, or completed.  

How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

This article is underdeveloped. It has a good source of information; it just needs to be critiqued, and refreshed with a new set of eyes.

References:

Sources and References:

Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?

In the article some of the facts are not cited correctly, or do not have citations included. After looking through some of the sources it is concluded that they are beneficial to the article, and the ones that are cited improve the article.  

Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?

The sources included are a reflection of the available literature on the topic, and subtopics of gametes. They do thoroughly explain the topics. Although if there is an addition made to this article some sources will be updated.

Are the sources current?

As stated above, the majority of the sources are from the past 10 to 15 years of research done on gametes.

Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?

Yes, the sources are written by a diverse group of authors. A few of the sourced articles are written by scholar university press, and some of them come from medical journal articles. There are historically marginalized individuals included in these articles as well.

Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)

Yes, there are some sources that could be replaced by more beneficial peer-reviewed articles rather than website information. For the definition sources those could be critiqued, and cited by different sources rather than an online encyclopedia. A peer-reviewed article could do just as much benefit.  

Check a few links. Do they work?

Yes, some of the sourced articles do work. A few of the sources require a purchase of a book, and some of the URLs have been discontinued. But this information can be recovered by new sources just as beneficial.