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Do sperm have muscles in their tail?

Cooky

Veteran Member
I find this video amazing.. Clueless little sperms swim with their tails, but what causes their tails to move?

Watch this video, and tell me what you think.

 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
Very interesting. I'm curious what causes the tubules to move.
This resource doesn't explain how energy is transferred to the sperm tail, but it does show you the structure. I suppose its accurate, since its Khan Academy. You'd have to check with a journal database to be sure. Cellular Movement
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
Very interesting. I'm curious what causes the tubules to move.

That i dont know but i think of it along the lines of "what causes us to keep out hearts beating?"


I also heard that sperm are attracted to violets, the uterus emits a similar smell which gives them their guidance
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
Most cellular movement is ultimately powered by ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate), which is the energy currency of most living things.

In particular, the force that 'pulls' the tubules past each other is a chemical force produced by the breakdown of ATP. And, interestingly, a similar process happens in muscles.

So, the tails of sperm don't have muscles, but there is an underlying mechanism that is similar in the two motion systems.

ATP is a fascinating chemical is, like I said, is often the energy source for the various processes in living things. One of the reasons we need oxygen to live is that oxygen is used in the process that forms ATP in our metabolisms (not directly). We die after a few minutes without oxygen because we only have a few minutes worth of ATP to fuel our brains and that ATP needs to be restored.
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Our birthdays should really be a celebration of that one (usually) sperm that won the race. :beercheers: :wineglass::teacup:
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
From my amateur genetic genealogy perspective, it's the mitochondria at the base of the tail that's the "work-horse" that powers the tail which moves the sperm. Mitochondria are little non-cellular energy-production factories. They float around in a female's egg, turning whatever it is that they convert into energy and, in a sperm, providing the energy necessary for sperm motility.

Every human, male and female, inherits his or her mitochondria from his or her mother which provides the genetic information that genetic analysts use to "source" a person's maternal ancestry.

So, if every human, male and female, inherits his or her mitochondria from his mother, but not from his or her father, what happens to the mitochondria at the base of the sperm's tail?

In the process of entering the egg, the mitochondria-powered tail (and mitochondria) drop off. The tail and its mitochondria have done their job and are no longer needed. That's why we don't inherit any of our fathers' mitochondria, only our mothers' mitochondria.

Edit: "entering the egg's nucleus" > "entering the egg".
 
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shunyadragon

shunyadragon
Premium Member
From my amateur genetic genealogy perspective, it's the mitochondria at the base of the tail that's the "work-horse" that powers the tail which moves the sperm. Mitochondria are little non-cellular energy-production factories. They float around in a female's egg, turning whatever it is that they convert into energy and, in a sperm, providing the energy necessary for sperm motility.

Every human, male and female, inherits his or her mitochondria from his or her mother which provides the genetic information that genetic analysts use to "source" a person's maternal ancestry.

So, if every human, male and female, inherits his or her mitochondria from his mother, but not from his or her father, what happens to the mitochondria at the base of the sperm's tail?

In the process of entering the egg's nucleus, the mitochondria-powered tail (and mitochondria) drop off. The tail and its mitochondria have done their job and are no longer needed. That's why we don't inherit any of our fathers' mitochondria, only our mothers' mitochondria.

Yeah the mitochondria are genetically programed to do their job.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
From my amateur genetic genealogy perspective, it's the mitochondria at the base of the tail that's the "work-horse" that powers the tail which moves the sperm. Mitochondria are little non-cellular energy-production factories. They float around in a female's egg, turning whatever it is that they convert into energy and, in a sperm, providing the energy necessary for sperm motility.

Every human, male and female, inherits his or her mitochondria from his or her mother which provides the genetic information that genetic analysts use to "source" a person's maternal ancestry.

So, if every human, male and female, inherits his or her mitochondria from his mother, but not from his or her father, what happens to the mitochondria at the base of the sperm's tail?

In the process of entering the egg's nucleus, the mitochondria-powered tail (and mitochondria) drop off. The tail and its mitochondria have done their job and are no longer needed. That's why we don't inherit any of our fathers' mitochondria, only our mothers' mitochondria.

Just to link our descriptions: the mitochondria are the places in the cells where ATP is made.
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
I read a perspective from Douglas Hofstadter that's been bouncing around in my brain for months now:

- When you install a new OS on your computer, the entire OS is represented as a single, stupendously long integer (in this case, a binary integer).

- When you make a new creature (humans too), that creature is represented - in DNA - as a single, stupendously long integer (in this case, in base 4).
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
I read a perspective from Douglas Hofstadter that's been bouncing around in my brain for months now:

- When you install a new OS on your computer, the entire OS is represented as a single, stupendously long integer (in this case, a binary integer).

- When you make a new creature (humans too), that creature is represented - in DNA - as a single, stupendously long integer (in this case, in base 4).

And the size of the 'program' carried by a sperm or egg cell is around 6-7 GB. It could easily fit on many USB sticks today.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
There are no muscles. The flagellum rotates through a mechanism at its base.
A single celled sperm is too small to have muscle cells in its flagellum. The sperm itself is only a single cell.


The mechanism of flagellar rotation and the function of the eye are the two primary arguments for irreducible complexity. Almost every goddidit argument brings up one or the other at some point.
Most of us who've been here a long time have seen videos and diagrams posted a dozen times.

Cooky, here's your mechanism:
Eukaryotic mechanism begins ~2m30sec.

What Are the Main Functions of Cilia & Flagella?
 
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