I am currently doing a small assignment about functions of a sperm cell. im looking at the centriole, The centriole plays a big part in dividing of the chromosomes! but my question is explain the function of centriole within a sperm cell? I have looked through numerous books and google but I can not seem to get a understanding of what else it does? Is it something to do with the flagellum?
2006-10-29 05:50:45 · 4 answers · asked by sally b 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
It doesn't necessarily have to have a function, it could just be that it's simpler to follow the basic plan for creating a cell and having a redundant centriole than it is to evolve a specific 'sperm' cell formation pattern.
Sometimes it's 'easier' for evolution and natural selection to retain a non-functional feature than to remove it - like appendices in humans.
2006-10-29 12:02:06 · answer #1 · answered by lauriekins 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A centriole in biology is a barrel shaped microtubule structure found in most animal cells and algae though not frequently in plants. The walls of each centriole are usually composed of nine triplet microtubules, although Drosophila embryos have nine doublets and Caenorhabditis elegans sperm cells and early embryos have nine singlets. An associated pair of centrioles, spatially arranged at right-angles, constitutes the compound structure known to cell biologists as the centrosome.
Centrioles are very important in the cell division process. They organize the pericentriolar material (PCM) which plays a role in organizing the mitotic spindle. The mitotic spindle functions in the chromosomes. Some animal cells are able to divide their chromosomes without centrioles, for instance in female meiosis. Centrioles play a role in the processes of mitosis and in male meiosis. During cell division the centrioles are duplicated, so that there will be a pair for each daughter cell.
In replication, each new paired set of centrioles is composed of the original centriole, plus a newly-made centriole. If the centrioles are used in forming motility organelles, flagella or cilia, the older of the two centrioles, the mother centriole, becomes the basal body which organizes the structure of the organelle.
2006-10-29 05:54:21 · answer #2 · answered by L6 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you go to Wikipedia, it explains what the centriole do.
2006-10-29 05:53:44 · answer #3 · answered by greenwhitecollege 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check these:
2006-10-29 05:55:25 · answer #4 · answered by Dragon Empress 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋