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Anisogamy
 
 
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Anisogamy (also called heterogamy
Heterogamy

Heterogamy has a number of biological definitions:*In reproductive biology, heterogamy is the alternation of differently organized generations, applied to the alternation between parthenogenesis and a sexual reproduction generation....
) refers to a form of sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
 involving gamete
Gamete

A gamete is a Cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization in organisms that sexual reproduction. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete?called an ovum ?and a male produces th...
s of different sizes. The smaller gamete is considered to be male (sperm cell
Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
) whereas the larger gamete is regarded as female (egg cell
Ovum

An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization....
).

There are several types of anisogamy. Both gametes may be flagellated
Flagellum

A flagellum is a tail-like structure that projects from the cell body of certain prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and it functions in locomotion....
 and thus motile. Conversely, neither of the gametes may be flagellated. This situation occurs for example in some algae and plants. In the red alga Polysiphonia, large non-motile egg cells are fertilized by small, non-motile sperm
Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
atia.






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Anisogamy (also called heterogamy
Heterogamy

Heterogamy has a number of biological definitions:*In reproductive biology, heterogamy is the alternation of differently organized generations, applied to the alternation between parthenogenesis and a sexual reproduction generation....
) refers to a form of sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
 involving gamete
Gamete

A gamete is a Cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization in organisms that sexual reproduction. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete?called an ovum ?and a male produces th...
s of different sizes. The smaller gamete is considered to be male (sperm cell
Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
) whereas the larger gamete is regarded as female (egg cell
Ovum

An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization....
).

There are several types of anisogamy. Both gametes may be flagellated
Flagellum

A flagellum is a tail-like structure that projects from the cell body of certain prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and it functions in locomotion....
 and thus motile. Conversely, neither of the gametes may be flagellated. This situation occurs for example in some algae and plants. In the red alga Polysiphonia, large non-motile egg cells are fertilized by small, non-motile sperm
Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
atia. In flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s, the gametes are non-motile cells within gametophyte
Gametophyte

In plants and algae that undergo alternation of generations, a gametophyte is the multicellular structure, or phase, that is haploid, containing a single set of chromosomes:...
s.

The form of heterogamy that occurs in animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s is oogamy
Oogamy

Oogamy is a form of anisogamy in which the female gamete is significantly larger than the male gamete and is non-motile. The male gametes are typically highly motile spermatozoon competing for the fertilization of the immotile egg....
. In oogamy, a large, non-motile egg cell (ovum
Ovum

An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization....
) is fertilized by a small, motile sperm cell (spermatozoon
Spermatozoon

A sperm, from the ancient Greek word sp???a and and more commonly known as a sperm cell, is the ploidy cell that is the male gamete. It Fertilization an ovum to form a zygote....
). The large egg cell is optimized for longevity, whereas the small sperm cell is optimized for motility and speed. The size and resources of the egg cell allow for the production of pheromone
Pheromone

A pheromone is a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the opposite gender of the same species. There are alarm signal pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology....
s, which attract the swimming sperm cells.

See also

Gamete
Gamete

A gamete is a Cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization in organisms that sexual reproduction. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete?called an ovum ?and a male produces th...
 Isogamy
Isogamy

Isogamy refers to a form of sexual reproduction involving gametes of similar morphology, differing only in allele expression in one or more Mating-type region....