gametocyte

[ guh-mee-tuh-sahyt, gam-i- ]

noun

, Biology.

1. a cell that produces gametes.

gametocyte

/ ɡəˈmiːtəʊˌsaɪt /

noun

1. an animal or plant cell that develops into gametes by meiosis See also oocyte spermatocyte

gametocyte

/ gə-mē′tə-sīt′ /

1. A cell from which gametes develop by meiosis. Oocytes and spermatocytes are gametocytes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of gametocyte¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; gameto- + -cyte

Example Sentences

Asexual replication in humans is what causes the symptoms of malaria, but to transmit, parasites have to develop and become either a male or female reproductive cell, known as a gametocyte.

From Science Daily

But the dye also kills the malaria parasites in the gametocyte stage, the point at which mosquitoes pick it up from human blood and pass it on to new victims.

From New York Times

These epigenetic regulators may act to facilitate the expression and/or repression of genes that are necessary for the initiation of gametocyte development in the subsequent cell cycle.

From Nature

Numbers were averaged for all gametocyte stages and for all blood stages.

From Nature

A young trophozoite which is becoming a gametocyte is distinguished from one which gives rise to a schizont by its much slower rate of growth, and the absence of any vacuoles in its cytoplasm.

From Project Gutenberg