Spermatogenicwave
Because the adluminal compartment needs roughly 64 days in the bull to complete, spermatozoa production would not continue if all segments of the seminiferous tubules were engaged in the same activity at the same time.
While this development is proceeding, a new type A spermatogonium migrates through the Sertoli cell barrier into the adluminal compartment to begin its development behind the developing type A spermatogonium that preceded it. This happens once every 14 days in the bull. Given that spermatozoa require 64 days to form, there will be 4.6 cycles (64/14) of initial development prior to the first cycle from a specific region of the seminiferous epithelium beginning to reach the rete testis.This sequential change in the stage of the cycle along the length of the tubule is known as the spermatogenic wave.
20.9
Source:
Rana Tanmoy (ed.). Principles of Veterinary Animal Physiology. CRC Press,2026. — 290 p.. 2026
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