Sperm Motility

Abstract

The author presents a synthesis from current available evidence of the physiological, ultrastructural, and biochemical features of sperm motility, considering flagellated and nonflagellated sperm, characteristics of flagellation, sperm velocity, hydrodynamics, basic fibrillar organization, centriolar apparatus, ancillary filamentous structures, mitochondria, chemical composition, enzymic localization, energy sources and supply, metabolic regulation, adaptability of spermatozoa, initiation of motility, dilution phenomena, flagellar adenosinetriphos-phatases and inorganic pyrophosphatase, and models. The plants and animals mentioned range from bacteriophages and bacteria to ferns, and from protozoa to vertebrates.