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What Sperm Can Teach us About Energy Production
Author(s) -
Mukai C,
Travis AJ
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
reproduction in domestic animals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.546
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1439-0531
pISSN - 0936-6768
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2012.02071.x
Subject(s) - compartmentalization (fire protection) , sperm , microbiology and biotechnology , mitochondrion , metabolic pathway , motility , biology , sperm cell , function (biology) , enzyme , biochemistry , genetics
Contents Mammalian sperm have evolved under strict selection pressures that have resulted in a highly polarized and efficient design. A critical component of that design is the compartmentalization of specific metabolic pathways to specific regions of the cell. Although the restricted localization of mitochondria to the midpiece is the best known example of this design, the organization of the enzymes of glycolysis along the fibrous sheath is the primary focus of this review. Evolution of variants of these metabolic enzymes has allowed them to function when tethered, enabling localized energy production that is essential for sperm motility. We close by exploring how this design might be mimicked to provide an energy‐producing platform technology for applications in nanobiotechnology.