3.6 - 3.9 : Reproduction Flashcards
What are gametes ?
- Gametes are sex cells (the sperm and egg in humans).
- Gametes are haploid which means they contain half the number of chromosomes as the rest of the cells which make up our body.
What is fertilisation ?
the nucleus of the sperm cell fuses with the nucleus of the egg cell - this fusion of nuclei is called fertilisation
What is a zygote ?
When two gametes fuse during sexual reproduction, the fertilised egg (called a zygote) contains the full number of chromosomes i.e. it is diploid.
Describe and ?>explain the process of fertilisation to include the acrosomal and cortical reactions.
The Acrosome Reaction
When a sperm reaches the egg cell,
it binds to its outer layer (the zona pellucida) through attachment to sperm-binding proteins.
Once bound, it releases the digestive enzymes that are contained in the acrosome.
These enzymes digest a tunnel through the zona pellucida so that the sperm can reach the plasma membrane of the egg cell.
The plasma membranes of the sperm cell and the egg cell fuse
and the sperm releases its nucleus into the egg cell cytoplasm.
The nuclei of the sperm and egg fuse fertilisation has taken place and a zygote is formed.
The Cortical Reaction
The fusion of the sperm cell and egg cell membranes triggers the release of calcium ions which stimulates vesicles containing cortical granules to move and fuse with the egg cell membrane.
The cortical granules are released into the zona pellucida, which continue breaking down the zona pellucida, removing the remaining sperm-binding proteins so that no further sperm can bind.
Other substances within the cortical granules produce a new outer layer which is thick and impenetrable to sperm cells.
This process prevents multiple sperm cells from fertilising the egg, which would result in the zygote having an abnormal number of chromosomes.
Egg cells
Egg cells are specialised for fertilisation in the following ways:
- Cytoplasm contains nutrients for growth of the developing embryo.
- There is an outer layer called the zona pellucida this changes after fertilisation so that no further sperm can penetrate.
- Follicle cells outside the zona pellucida form a protective coating around the egg cell.
Sperm cells
Sperm cells are also specialised to carry out fertilisation:
Overall streamlined shape for faster swimming.
Tail (flagellum) enables the sperm to swim.
Contain lots of mitochondria to provide ATP for movement.
The head of the sperm contains the acrosome- this is filled with digestive enzymes which break down the egg’s zona pellucida and allow the sperm to reach the egg cell membrane.
Blurt everything you know about crossing over as well as drawing a diagram.
- Crossing over refers to the exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes.
- A Chromatids with a different combintion of alleles are produced.
Blurt everything you know about independent assortment.
- During metaphase I. Homologous chromosomes line up at the metaphase plate independently of each other.
- As a result, the orientation of each pair of homologous chromosomes is random, leading to different combinations of chromosomes being produced.
Explain how crossing over and independent assortment can produce gametes with new
combinations of the alleles shown on the diagram of the two pairs of chromosomes.
(4)
Blurt everything you know about meiosis.
- Meiosis is the cell division that produces gametes for sexual reproduction.
- It produces four genetically different daughter cells.
Stages of meiosis ( not required to know but good to learn )
- Meiosis I :
Prophase I: chromatids condense and arrange themselves into **homologous pairs **(called bivalents). Crossing over occurs . The nuclear envelope disintegrates and spindle fibres form.
Metaphase I: homologous chromosomes line up along the equator and attach to the spindle fibre by their centromeres. (don’t confuse centromeres with centrioles. A way to remeber is that centromerse have the letter C & M meaning they are the circle structure in the middle of chromosomes.)
Anaphase I: homologous chromosomes are separated.
Telophase I: chromosomes reach opposite poles of the cell. Nuclear envelope reforms around the chromosomes. Cytokinesis results in the formation of two daughter cells.
What is the locus ?
It is the location of a genes on a chromosomes.
The plural of locus is loci.
What is meant by autosomally linked ?
Alleles that are on the same chromosome.
- so crossing over is less likey to occcur between these two genes.
- Think of it like automtically linked, meaning they are on the same chromosome, so they are most likely to be inheritred together as crossing over is less likely to ocure between them.
Blurt everything you know about linked genes.
If the loci of two different genes are on the same chromosome, they are likely to be inherited together and are said to be linked.
The only way that the genes will not be inherited together is if crossing over separates them during meiosis (the chiasmata would have to form between the two genes.
The closer the loci of the two genes, the less likely this is to happen and the higher the probability that the genes will be inherited together.
Blurt everything you know about sex linkage.
- Genes that are located on one of the sex chromosomes ( X or Y ) are said to be sex linked.
- If the recessive allele (which causes disease) for a gene is found on the X-Chromosome, men will be more likely to inherit the disease as they only need 1 not 2 of that allele for the disease to be present in contrast to women where they need two as they have two X-chromosomes if they have one allele they will just be considered as a carrier of that disease.
e.g hemophilia and red-green colorblindness.
At the start of fertilisation, many sperm cells will surround the ovum.
Describe the events of fertilisation that occur after the acrosome reaction.
(3)
During fertilisation, only one sperm cell can fertilise an egg cell.
Explain why a second sperm cell cannot fertilise the egg cell.
(3)