Sperm production site. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of sectioned seminiferous tubules, the sites of sperm production in the human testes. Each tubule contains a swirl of the tails of forming sperm cells (purple) at its centre. The tubules are lined with a stratified epithelium containing two types of cell: Sertoli cells, which nourish developing sperm, and spermatogenic cells, from which the sperm cells form in a process known as spermatogenesis. After this, the sperm cells mature into their mobile form in a process known as spermiogenesis. |