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Amazing: the cruel competition that exists between the seeds on the way to the egg - Walla! health

2021-02-25T07:01:34.728Z


If you thought it was hard outside, try to imagine what the seeds go through on their way to the egg. Power struggles, better genetics and even dirty games - that's what it looks like from the inside


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Amazing: the fierce competition that exists between the seeds on the way to the egg

If you thought it was hard outside, try to imagine what the seeds go through on their way to the egg.

Power struggles, better genetics and even dirty games - that's what it looks like from the inside

Tags

  • fertilization

  • seed

  • Pregnancy

Walla!

health

Thursday, 25 February 2021, 08:08

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The secret is in mobility.

Doctor holding container with semen (Photo: ShutterStock)

The human body is an amazing machine, and the race of sperm cells to determine who gets to the ovum first and fertilizes it is one of the most amazing mechanisms - and one that involves intense real competition, which sometimes even becomes cruel.



A key part of this competition is motility, since a sperm that can move better has a higher chance of reaching the egg first to fertilize it.

Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics have shown using mice that an active protein called RAC1 is really important for the ability of sperm to move gradually.

A seed that has the optimal amount of this protein has a better chance of competing and winning.

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In a new study published in PLoS Genetics, it was found that mice contain a "selfish" genetic segment that violates the standard rule of genetic inheritance, and provides some sperm cells with a 99 percent success rate if they contain it.

The researchers described the genetic segment as a t-haplotype (or t-sperm) containing genetic variants.

They first showed that the seeds of the mice that contained it had more advanced locomotor abilities, which increased their chances of fertilizing the egg.

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In addition, the researchers linked this "selfish" genetic fragment to the active RAC1 protein.

This protein acts as a switch, transmitting information from the outside to the inside of the cells by activating other signaling molecules.

There are known to be functions in targeting cells such as immune cells for their purposes.

The authors of the new study hypothesized that RAC1 may also help sperm cells "smell" their way into the egg.

Cruel race.

Imaging of seeds on their way to the ovum (Photo: ShutterStock)

"The competitiveness of a single sperm appears to depend on an optimal level of active RAC1. Even reduced or excessive RAC1 activity interferes with efficient forward movement," said Dr. Alexandra Emerel, the study's editor, in a statement. In addition, the authors found that sperm cells contained the genetic segment This one could disable another sperm in a competition that did not contain it.



"A sperm with the plutipate manages to disable a sperm without it," said Bernhard Herman, director of the Institute of Medical Genetics at the University of Berlin, and author of a parallel study. An antidote that only works on and protects the t-seed, "he explained.

"Imagine a marathon in which all participants receive poisoned drinking water, but some runners also take antidote."



"Our data underscore the fact that sperm cells are fierce competitors," Herman stated.

In addition, the example of the plutipap demonstrates how there are genes that use dirty tricks to pass them on.

"Genetic differences can give sperm an advantage in the race for life, thus promoting the transmission of certain genetic variants to the next generation," he concluded.

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Source: walla

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