Difference Between Sperm and Egg

The key difference between sperm and egg is that sperm is the male gamete of vertebrates, while egg is the female gamete of vertebrates.

Gametes are reproductive cells found in organisms. They are also known as sex cells. Moreover, gametes are haploid cells, and each cell normally carries only one copy of each chromosome. Sperm and ovum are the gametes produced by vertebrates. Sperms are referred to as male gametes, while ova or egg cells are referred to as female gametes.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Sperm  
3. What is an Egg
4. Similarities – Sperm and Egg
5. Sperm vs. Egg in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Sperm vs. Egg

What is a Sperm?

Sperm is the male gamete in vertebrates. It is motile and is the smallest cell in the human body. It exhibits distinctive traits, including mitochondria located at the center, minimal cytoplasm, the absence of nucleoplasm, the presence of both X and Y chromosomes, the inclusion of centrioles, and an enveloping plasma membrane. Sperms are produced by testes. Structurally, a sperm is segmented into a head, neck, middle and tail. One spermatogonium produces four sperm at a time.

The two very important factors that can affect male fertility are sperm count and sperm motility. Therefore, those experiencing fertility issues can benefit from a normal semen analysis. A male produces approximately 73 million sperm cells per milliliter of ejaculate, and these sperms are viable for 5 days in the female vagina. But it takes only one sperm to fertilize an egg and create a life. Though sperms are tiny cells, they are 50 % responsible for reproduction.

Sperm quality and motility decrease with age, inactive lifestyle, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking cigarettes, taking artificial steroids, use of illegal drugs, heart diseases and prolonged exposure to heat, such as saunas or hot tubs. Furthermore, the main task of a sperm is to fertilize the egg and produce a new offspring.

What is an Egg?

An egg is a female gamete of vertebrates. It is a large cell compared to a sperm. It exhibits traits such as being non-motile, having mitochondria dispersed throughout the cytoplasm, a larger quantity of cytoplasm, containing nucleoplasm, exclusively carrying the X chromosome, lacking centrioles, and being enveloped by the egg’s membrane.

The ovary produces egg cells. Egg cells do not have external segmentation as sperm. Moreover, one oogonium produces only one ovum at a time. After the ovulation process, the egg cell lives for around 12 to 24 hours period. It must be fertilized with sperm at that time if a woman is to become pregnant.

The most unique function of an egg cell is its ability to generate a new individual after fertilization. In addition, in molecular biology, the cytoplasm of an egg can also reprogram a somatic cell nucleus so the nucleus can direct the development of a new individual. This is how the famous Dolly sheep was developed in the 1980s by scientists.

What are the Similarities Between Sperm and Egg?

• Sperm and egg are the gametes produced by vertebrates.
• Both gametes have 23 chromosomes.
• These gametes are single cells and contain X chromosomes.
• Both games are combined in the fertilization process.
• Both gametes are collectively involved in the reproduction and survival of vertebrates.

What is the Difference Between Sperm and Egg?

Sperm is the male gamete in vertebrates, while egg is the female gamete in vertebrates. This is the key difference between sperm and egg. Furthermore, the viability of a sperm is 5 days, while the viability of an egg is around a 12-to-24-hour period. Moreover, sperm is externally segmented while egg is not. In addition, sperm is a motile cell, while egg is not a motile cell.

The following table summarizes the difference between sperm and egg.

Summary – Sperm vs. Egg

Vertebrate reproduction is carried out through sexual reproduction, which results in fertilization to create offspring. Gametes are an organism’s reproductive cells, which are also referred to as sex cells (reproductive cells). Sperm and egg are the gametes produced by vertebrates. Sperm is a small cell and has a viability of 5 days. On the other hand, an egg is a larger cell and has viability around 12 to 24 hours period. This summarizes the difference between sperm and egg.

Reference:

1. “Sperm: Everything You Need to Know.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International.
2. “Egg Cell.” An Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Sperms in direct wet mount of semen microscopy” By Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Prefertilization Mammalian Egg Cell” By Chippolito – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia