Reproduction Abstracts

The effect of occupation and environment on semen quality is of obvious interest to doctors and their patients. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) suggest that men should be advised about the possible negative effects of: i) some occupations; ii) cigarette smoking; iii) alcohol consumption; iv) tight underwear; v) recreational drugs; and vi) high BMI. However, the evidence that underpins these suggestions is often quite weak, relying on small underpow...

The origin of a new organism requires the fusion of the female’s oocyte with the male’s sperm. The oocyte increases the chance for an encounter with a sperm by the release of chemoattractants, which provide chemical cues for the sperm to spot the egg. This mechanism termed ‘sperm chemotaxis’ is important for fertilization in many species. Sea urchins have served as a model organism for fertilization, in particular for sperm chemotaxis, since the early 20th ...

Until recently the mammalian oviducts or fallopian tubes were regarded as inert organs that provide a passive racecourse where spermatozoa compete against each other to reach the egg. Recent evidence suggests, however, that the female reproductive tract recognises the arrival of spermatozoa and initiates changes in gene expression and protein secretion profiles. We have observed that X- and Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa alter gene expression in the maternal tract in differe...