10/26/2014 Anisogamy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Different forms of
isogamy:
A) isogamy of motile cells,
B) isogamy of non-motile
cells, C) conjugation.
Different forms of
anisogamy:
A) anisogamy of motile
cells, B) oogamy (egg
cell and sperm cell), C)
anisogamy of non-motile
cells (egg cell and
spermatia).
Anisogamy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anisogamy (noun) (also called heterogamy)
refers to a form of sexual reproduction involving
the union or fusion of two dissimilar gametes
(differing either in size alone or in size and form)
anisogamous, anisogamic, (adj.).
[1]
The
smaller gamete is considered to be male (sperm
cell), whereas the larger gamete is regarded as
female (egg cell).
There are several types of anisogamy. Both
gametes may be flagellated and thus motile.
Alternatively, 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 spermatia. In
flowering plants, the gametes are non-motile cells
within gametophytes.
The form of heterogamy that occurs in animals is
oogamy. In oogamy, a large, non-motile egg cell
(ovum) is fertilized by a small, motile sperm cell
(spermatozoon). 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 pheromones, which attract the swimming
sperm cells.
[2]
Evolution of anisogamy
Anisogamy is the phenomenon of fertilization of small gametes (sperm) and big gametes (eggs). Gamete
size difference is the fundamental difference between males and females. Anisogamy first evolved in
multicellular haploid species after the differentiation of different mating types had already been
established.
Two main theories have been proposed for the evolution of anisogamy. One focuses on sperm
competition and the selfishness of sperm;
[3][4]
the other focuses on the cooperation of different mating
types to deal with fertilization risks.
[5][6]
Both theories assume that anisogamy originated through
disruptive selection acting on an ancestral isogamous population, and that there is a trade-off between
larger gamete number and smaller fitness of each gamete, because the total resource one individual can
invest in reproduction is fixed.
[7]
The theory of sperm competition was the first theory to explain the evolution of anisogamy, which was
proposed by Geoff Parker. He proposed that because the size of the zygote is determined by the sizes of
both gametes and one gamete becoming smaller will decrease the zygote size to no less than half, so
10/26/2014 Anisogamy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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there is a large benefit to reduce gamete size in order to greatly increase gamete number. Then, the many
smaller gametes can still "parasitize" the larger gametes to pass on their genes. Then, larger gametes
have to increase their sizes to compensate the nutrient loss of the zygotes. So sperm competition, which
was the selection force to greatly increase gamete number, was proposed to be the cause of size
differentiation of different gametes, and eventually the evolution of sperm and eggs.
However, competition not only exists among sperm, but also exists among eggs. Parker provided no
explanations for why it was sperm that became smaller but not eggs, or what caused proto-sperm and
proto-eggs to be unequal. In fact, a recent mathematical model
[6]
shows that sperm competition is
neither necessary nor sufficient for the evolution of anisogamy. Sperm competition only caused sperm to
become as small as possible (considering them still functional) after anisogamy and smaller sperm had
already evolved. The real reason for the evolution of anisogamy is proposed to be fertilization risk. An
important problem for the mating of multicellular organisms is the transport of gametes from place to
place for fertilization, which should evolve for at least one mating type because gametes of different
individuals usually do not have direct contact. However, the transport has a probability of failure and
poses a fertilization risk. When the risk increases, gametes of one mating type need to become smaller to
increase the number to overcome this risk, and gametes of the other mating type need to become larger
to compensate for nutrient loss of the zygotes.
So it is fertilization risk and the cooperation of different mating types to deal with it that caused the
evolution of anisogamy. Sperm evolve to increase fertilization events and eggs evolve to compensate the
nutrient loss. Additionally, sperm can evolve even smaller when eggs become larger to ensure zygote
nutrient, and eggs can evolve even larger when sperm become smaller to reduce fertilization risks. This
cooperation may be the reason why many organisms have extremely small sperm and extremely large
eggs.
See also
Evolution of sex
Gamete
Isogamy
Meiosis
Sex
Bateman's principle
References
1. ^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/anisogamy
2. ^ Dusenbery, David B. (2009). "Chapter 20". Living at Micro Scale. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University
Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03116-6.
3. ^ Parker, G.A., et al., 1972. The origin and evolution of gamete dimorphism and the malefemale
phenomenon. J. Theor. Biol. 36, 181198.
4. ^ Parker, G.A., 1982. Why are there so many tiny sperm? Sperm competition and the maintenance of two
sexes. J. Theor. Biol. 96, 281294.
5. ^ Dusenbery, D.B., 2006. Selection for high gamete encounter rates explains the evolution of anisogamy
using plausible assumptions about size relationships of swimming speed and duration. J. Theor. Biol. 241,
10/26/2014 Anisogamy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisogamy 3/3
3338.
6. ^
a

b
Jiang-Nan Yang (2010). "Cooperation and the evolution of anisogamy"
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519310000317). Journal of Theoretical Biology 264
(1): 2436. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.01.019 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jtbi.2010.01.019). ISSN 0022-
5193 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0022-5193).
7. ^ Bulmer, M.G.; Parker, G.A. (2002). "The evolution of anisogamy: a game-theoretic approach"
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691164). Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 269 (1507): 23812388.
doi:10.1098/rspb.2002.2161 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.2002.2161). PMC 1691164
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691164). PMID 12495507
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12495507).
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Categories: Reproduction Germ cells
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