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I am reading the answer and I am getting confused by the sentence:

At the end of meiosis I females have two daughter cells and meiosis II only occurs if and when fertilization occurs by a sperm cell.

The clause suggests me that meiosis II starts after the sperm has ignited the fertilization process in female: I do not know how that exactly works.

Wikipedia says:

The process of fertilization involves a sperm fusing with an ovum.

So female meiosis II must happen before the sperm fuses with the ovum. Sperm must ignite some process in female that puts female meiosis II going on before sperm can fuse with egg. Is that right? How is that going to happen?

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  • $\begingroup$ Does this mean that the sperm fertilises a cell with 46 chromosomes instead of 23? $\endgroup$
    – user3633
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 2:16

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Primary oocytes are formed prenatally and reain suspended in prophase of meiosis I for years until the onset of puberty. An oocyte completes meiosis I as its follicle matures (during ovulation) resulting in a secondary oocyte and the FIRST polar body. After ovulation, each oocyte continues to metaphase of meiosis II. Meiosis II is completed only if fertilization occurs, resulting in a fertilized mature ovum and the second polar body.

So in short, the egg is stuck in metaphase II until fertilization.

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  • $\begingroup$ Do you mean that the egg is stuck in metaphase II already before the sperm comes? - Does the egg remain in metaphase II a couple of days each month? $\endgroup$
    – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
    Commented Feb 8, 2012 at 22:53
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    $\begingroup$ Yes, the secondary oocyte stays in metaphase II throughout ovulation until fertilization. Upon fertilization, the ovum and the third polar body form. If no fertilization occurs, the secondary oocyte (still in meiosis II) is expelled via menstruation. $\endgroup$
    – jp89
    Commented Feb 9, 2012 at 1:24
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    $\begingroup$ I am considering know which follicle is at metaphase II here biology.stackexchange.com/questions/1205/… $\endgroup$
    – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
    Commented Feb 27, 2012 at 16:23
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Meiosis, as you know, have two stages, Meiosis I and II. The oocyte is arrested during metaphase II of MEOISIS II. This arrest is facilitated by a complex called "Cytostatic Factor" (CSF).

After fertilization, the sperm induces a rise in intracellular calcium ion which activates and enzyme, Calmodulin Kinase II. This complex, through a series of phosphorylation and ubiquitination, degrades the CSF comples and in turn, activates APC (Anaphase Promoting Complex). APC will then degrades cyclins, securins and this will promotes the completion of Meiois II.

Sperm must ignite some process in female that puts female meiosis II going on before sperm can fuse with egg.

I think the statement is a bit incorrect. The sperm will ignite (I prefer induce) the above changes and fuse at the same time. Because, what starts all the process above is part of the sperm's cytoplasm that need to be assimilated into the oocyte's cytoplasm.

I hope this clears it all up. Or if you are interested, I can provide the long list of signalling pathways that leads to zygotic development.

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  • $\begingroup$ Provide a link to the long list?By the way: crossing over is in the "grandma's womb"? $\endgroup$
    – Peter Bernhard
    Commented Jun 8, 2021 at 9:00
  • $\begingroup$ Did you mean "long pathway" or long list? I'd still be interested. Without knowing I guess induction means setting apart one "haploid" single strand of the egg - must be - diploid, double strand. As I am into viral infection and how that relates to multi cellularism (CoV-19 induces Syncytia!) this to me as if some "single stranded" "haplo" transfects a regular double stranded host and puts itself in place of the regular second strand. -- So, what happens to the second DNA strand of the female egg DNA? It should "budd off" as a haploid cell with a membrane. $\endgroup$
    – Peter Bernhard
    Commented Feb 17, 2022 at 14:07
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Untill puberty the follicles grown from primordial to antral stage (secondary folliccle) and oocytes are arrested in diplotene of profase I of meiosis I, without polar body, with a nucleous called germinative vesicle. After puberty, with gonadotrophis, they can grow more and ovulate. With LH surge they are stimulated to continuing meiosis and they lose the nucleous and became metafase I oocytes (MI) and extrude the first polar body to became secondary oocytes (MII oocytes) just before ovulation. So, the Graaf folicle, last stage of follicular development, has a secondary oocyte arrested in metafase II. Only after ovulation and with fecundation it is possible to escape from MII arrest and extrude the second polar body.

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice answer. +1. A referencecwould be nice. $\endgroup$
    – AliceD ♦
    Commented Sep 29, 2015 at 22:17

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