Spermatogenesis and oogenesis are both forms of

gametogenesis, in which a diploid gamete cell produces

haploid sperm and egg cells, respectively.
Learning Objective[ edit ]
Distinguish between spermatogenesis and oogenesis

Key Points[ edit ]

o Gametogenesis, the production of sperm (spermatogenesis) and eggs (oogenesis),
takes place through the process of meiosis.
o In oogenesis, diploid oogonium go through mitosis until one develops into a
primary oocyte, which will begin the first meiotic division, but then arrest; it will
finish this division as it develops in the follicle, giving rise to a haploid secondary
oocyte and a smaller polar body.
o The secondary oocyte begins the second meiotic division and then arrests again; it
will not finish this division unless it is fertilized by a sperm; if this occurs, a
mature ovum and another polar body is produced.
o In spermatogenesis, diploid spermatogonia go through mitosis until they begin to
develop into gametes; eventually, one develops into a primary spermatocyte that
will go through the first meiotic division to form two haploid secondary
spermatocytes.
o The secondary spermatocytes will go through a second meiotic division to each
produce two spermatids; these cells will eventually develop flagella and become
mature sperm.

Terms[ edit ]
meiosis
cell division of a diploid cell into four haploid cells, which develop to produce gametes
mitosis
the division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two
identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division
polar body
one of the small cells that are by-products of the meiosis that forms an egg
oocyte
a cell that develops into an egg or ovum; a female gametocyte
spermatocyte
a male gametocyte, from which a spermatozoon develops
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Full Text[ edit ]

Gametogenesis (Spermatogenesis and Oogenesis)

Gametogenesis, the production of sperm and eggs, takes place through the process of meiosis.
During meiosis, two cell divisions separate the paired chromosomes in the nucleus and then
separate the chromatids that were made during an earlier stage of the cell's life cycle, resulting in
gametes that each contain half the number of chromosomes as the parent. The production of
sperm is called spermatogenesis and the production of eggs is called oogenesis.

Oogenesis
Oogenesis occurs in the outermost layers of the ovaries. As with sperm production, oogenesis
starts with a germ cell, called an oogonium (plural: oogonia), but this cell undergoes mitosis to
increase in number, eventually resulting in up to one to two million cells in the embryo .

Oogenesis
The process of oogenesis occurs in the ovary's outermost layer. A primary oocyte begins the first
meiotic division, but then arrests until later in life when it will finish this division in a developing
follicle. This results in a secondary oocyte, which will complete meiosis if it is fertilized.

The cell starting meiosis is called a primary oocyte. This cell will begin the first meiotic division,
but be arrested in its progress in the first prophase stage. At the time of birth, all future eggs are
in the prophase stage. At adolescence, anterior pituitary hormones cause the development of a
number of follicles in an ovary. This results in the primary oocyte finishing the first meiotic
division. The cell divides unequally, with most of the cellular material and organelles going to
one cell, called a secondary oocyte, and only one set of chromosomes and a small amount of
cytoplasm going to the other cell. This second cell is called a polar body and usually dies. A
secondary meiotic arrest occurs, this time at the metaphase II stage. At ovulation, this secondary
oocyte will be released and travel toward the uterus through the oviduct. If the secondary oocyte
is fertilized, the cell continues through the meiosis II, completing meiosis, producing a second
polar body and a fertilized egg containing all 46 chromosomes of a human being, half of them
coming from the sperm.

Source: Boundless. Gametogenesis (Spermatogenesis and Oogenesis). Boundless Biology.

Boundless, 08 Jan. 2016. Retrieved 14 Feb. 2016 from
https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/animal-reproduction-
and-development-43/human-reproductive-anatomy-and-gametogenesis-239/gametogenesis-
spermatogenesis-and-oogenesis-891-12142/

Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Joshua Anderson

Did you know that a human female already has all of the oocytes that she will make
in her entire life before she is even born? In this lesson, you'll learn how the human
body produces an ovum through the process of oogenesis. You'll also learn how
polar bodies help to ensure that female gametes are of high quality even though
they are not produced in high quantities.

The Ovum

Oogenesis is the process by which the female gametes, or ova, are created. The female gamete is
called an ovum. Sometimes people will refer to female gametes as eggs, but the term egg can
include more than one stage of development, and the definition of an egg also changes depending
on the type of organism.

Definition of oogenesis

For example, the entire prenatal development of birds occurs inside an egg, but in placental
mammals, after the egg is fertilized and starts dividing, nobody calls it an egg anymore. So,
we're going to use the more precise term for a mature female gamete which is ovum (or ova for
the plural form). Now you may recall, each ovum must be haploid and contain only one copy of
each chromosome.

Meiosis

You may also remember that in order to create haploid gametes, a cell must go through the
process of meiosis which involves replicating its genome and then dividing, not once, but twice.
In theory, this would create four haploid gametes from a single diploid cell, like it does during
spermatogenesis.

Illustration of meiosis in action

However, this isn't the case for human female gametes. Let's go through the process of oogenesis
to see how this works and how many haploid gametes are made from a diploid cell.

Oogenesis

The diploid germ cells that have the potential to develop into ova are called oogonia. In humans,
all of a female's oogonia that she will make in her lifetime are created when she's still a fetus and
hasn't even been born yet. In fact, about one or two months before a baby girl is born, most of
her approximately seven million oogonia die, and the remaining surviving oogonia enter meiosis
I and become primary oocytes. These primary oocytes press the pause button on their
development in prophase I, after they've replicated their genomes, but before they've made the
first meiotic division. They stay arrested at this stage of development for over a decade until the
girl begins her first menstrual cycle. Then, for about the next 30 to 45 years, on a monthly basis,
primary oocytes resume meiosis where they left off and complete the first meiotic division.

When the primary oocyte does finally complete its first meiotic division, it divides the
chromosomes evenly, just as you would expect. However, it does not divide its cytoplasm
equally. Almost all of the cytoplasm remains in one of the two daughter cells, which becomes a
secondary oocyte. The other daughter cell, which gets half of the chromosomes but very little
cytoplasm, is called a polar body. The polar body is not a functional oocyte, instead it
degenerates and dies. The formation of a polar body allows the primary oocyte to reduce its
genome by half and conserve most of its cytoplasm in the secondary oocyte.

The secondary oocyte still has two copies of each chromosome, so if it's going to become a fully-
functional ovum, it must undergo the second meiotic division. This division is also uneven, like
the first one, with half of the chromosomes going to another very small degenerate polar body
and half of the chromosomes being retained by the ovum along with almost all of the cytoplasm.
In this way, the ovum achieves its haploid state while conserving as much cytoplasm as possible.

Illustration of oogenesis in action

Ovary Function and Ovulation

In humans, oocyte development occurs in the ovaries. Each oocyte is surrounded by a number of
follicle cells to create a follicle.When the menstrual cycle begins, one, or maybe even a few,
primary oocytes begin to grow larger and the follicle cells increase in number and cause the
follicle to grow larger too. Usually, some of the developing oocytes will degenerate and only
leave one follicle that will mature, but every once in a while, two, or even more, follicles will
mature. In these cases, fraternal twins or triplets that are genetically distinct may be born. In any
case, as a follicle reaches maturity, the primary oocyte completes its first meiotic division and
becomes a secondary oocyte. Very soon after that, the follicle ruptures, and the secondary oocyte
is released into the fallopian or uterine tube, even though the second meiotic division hasn't
occurred yet. The release of a secondary oocyte from the ovaries is called ovulation.