Gamete
n.
A sexual cell or germ cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes; a conjugating cell which unites with another of like or unlike character to form a new individual. In Bot. , gamete designates esp. the similar sex cells of the lower thallophytes which unite by conjugation, forming a zygospore . The gametes of higher plants are of two sorts, sperm (male) and egg (female); their union is called fertilization , and the resulting zygote an oöspore . In Zoöl. , gamete is most commonly used of the sexual cells of certain Protozoa, though also extended to the germ cells of higher forms.
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