NCBI » Bookshelf » Molecular Biology of the Cell » Cells in Their Social Context » Germ Cells and Fertilization

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Figure 20-23

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   Cytoplasmic bridges in developing sperm cells and their precursors

The progeny of a single maturing spermatogonium remain connected to one another by cytoplasmic bridges throughout their differentiation into mature sperm. For the sake of simplicity, only two connected maturing spermatogonia are shown entering meiosis, eventually to form eight connected haploid spermatids. In fact, the number of connected cells that go through two meiotic divisions and differentiate together is very much larger than shown here.