what is gamete

A gamete is a reproductive cell of an animal or plant. In animals, female gametes are called ova or egg cells, and male gametes are called sperm. Ova and sperm are haploid cells, meaning they carry only one copy of each chromosome. During fertilization, a sperm and ovum unite to form a new diploid organism. Gametes are produced through a type of cell division called meiosis. During meiosis, a diploid parent cell undergoes one round of DNA replication followed by two separate cycles of nuclear division to produce four haploid cells. These cells develop into sperm or ova. The ova mature in the ovaries of females, and the sperm develop in the testes of males. Each sperm cell, or spermatozoon, is small and motile due to the flagellum, a tail-shaped structure that allows the cell to propel and move. In contrast, each egg cell, or ovum, is relatively large and non-motile.