germline
Sign in to savethumb|Cormlets of Watsonia meriana, an example of [[apomixis]] thumb|Clathria tuberosa, an example of a sponge that can grow indefinitely from somatic tissue and reconstitute itself from totipotent separated somatic cells In biology and genetics, the germline is the population of a multicellular organism's cells that develop into germ cells. In other words, they are the cells that form gametes (eggs and sperm), which can come together to form a zygote. They differentiate in the gonads from primordial germ cells into gametogonia, which develop into gametocytes, which develop into the final game
~8 min read
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Evolution
- DNA damage, mutation and repair
- Epigenetic alterations
- See also
- References
thumb|Cormlets of Watsonia meriana, an example of [[apomixis]] thumb|Clathria tuberosa, an example of a sponge that can grow indefinitely from somatic tissue and reconstitute itself from totipotent separated somatic cells In biology and genetics, the germline is the population of a multicellular organism's cells that develop into germ cells. In other words, they are the cells that form gametes (eggs and sperm), which can come together to form a zygote. They differentiate in the gonads from primordial germ cells into gametogonia, which develop into gametocytes, which develop into the final gametes. This process is known as gametogenesis.
Germ cells pass on genetic material through the process of sexual reproduction. This includes fertilization, recombination and meiosis. These processes help to increase genetic diversity in offspring.