Recent studies investigating possible causes of male subfertility have largely focused on how lifestyle or environmental factors impact on the process of spermatogenesis. Markedly, fewer studies have investigated those risk factors that result in reduced sperm quality, such as poor sperm motility. The speed at which sperm swim is a major predictor of fertility and is extremely variable in human...

Maintenance of normal male fertility relies on the process of spermatogenesis which is under complex endocrine control by mechanisms involving gonadotropin and steroid hormones. Although testosterone is the primary sex steroid in males, estrogen is locally produced in the testis and plays a very crucial role in male fertility. This is evident from presence of both the estrogen receptors alpha (...

Development of anthers and pollen represents an important aspect of the life cycle in flowering plants. Genes contributing to anther and pollen development have been widely studied in many plant species. Ms26/CYP704B genes play an important role in pollen development through biosynthesis of sporopollenin for pollen exine formation. To investigate the role of Ms26/CYP704B genes in anther and pol...

The scope of potential fertility issues for pediatric cancer patients is broad and difficult to predict. Both genders are susceptible to central dysregulation of the hypothalamic axis. For boys, chemotherapy and radiation can affect production of both sex hormones and sperm. These effects can be reversible or permanent. For girls, the ovary can be similarly affected, with inadequate or absent h...

An appreciable fraction of the Drosophila melanogaster genome is dedicated to male fertility. One approach to characterizing this subset of the genome is through the study of male-sterile mutations. We studied the relation between vital and male-fertility genes in three large autosomal regions that were saturated for lethal and male-sterile mutations. The majority of male-sterile mutations affe...

Background: Gossypol is a polyphenol isolated from the cotton plant (Gossypium sp.). The substance, shows promise for use as a male contraceptive, is a derivative of cottonseed oil. Various species of animals have been tested and some are more sensitive than others, and in men it causes spermatogenesis arrest at relatively low doses. Materials and Methods: This routine data base study re-examin...

Polyandry, female mating with multiple males, is widespread across many taxa and almost ubiquitous in insects. This conflicts with the traditional idea that females are constrained by their comparatively large investment in each offspring, and so should only need to mate once or a few times. Females may need to mate multiply to gain sufficient sperm supplies to maintain their fertility, especia...

The Aegilops kotschyi thermo-sensitive cytoplasmic male sterility (K-TCMS) system may facilitate hybrid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seed multiplication and production. The K-TCMS line is completely male sterile during the normal wheat-growing season, whereas its fertility can be restored in a high-temperature environment. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for male sterility/fer...

background: noise as a most common harmful physical agent in workplaces has some effects on the exposed persons such as hearing threshold reduction, increasing blood pressure, and interference with the speech. the adverse side-effect of noise is one of the scientific areas that have seldom been considered by researchers. the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational noise...