Q.What is capacitation?

[!TLDR]

Capacitation is the set of physiological changes sperm undergo within the female reproductive tract that make them capable of fertilising an oocyte. …

Sperm are not immediately able to fertilise an oocyte the moment they are deposited in the female tract; they must first spend some time within the tract undergoing capacitation, a series of changes to the sperm's plasma membrane and metabolic state. Only capacitated sperm are able to undergo the acrosomal reaction on contact with the oocyte, so capacitation is a necessary precondition for fertilisation. …

Recall capacitation as a precondition (occurring in the female tract, before contact with the oocyte) rather …

Describing capacitation and the acrosomal reaction as the same event -- capacitation happens earlier, within the female tract generally, and only prepares the sperm to be a …