Predictive Capacity of Boar Sperm Morphometry and Morphometric Sub-Populations on Reproductive Success after Artificial Insemination (original) (raw)
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Sperm Morphology and Fertility in Artificial Insemination Boars
The objective of this study was to investigate quality of semen and to determine the relationships between semen quality and fertility in the different pig breeds. Twelve boars were randomly selected at Joint stock company "Lekėčiai", Lithuania. Quality of 47 ejaculates was assessed and reproductive data from 209 sows were included into the analysis. None of initial semen quality parameters showed significant correlation with non-return rate % or litter size. Only some of semen quality traits (morphological defects) of the spermatozoa-loose abnormal heads, short broad, big head and acrosomal defects correlated significantly wiht non-return rate % and the litter size. Semen quality parameters differed significantly between the breeds. Danish Landrace boars, compared to the boars of Duroc breed, had lower incidence of pathological spermatozoa in their semen (P < 0.001), but higher percentage of sows conceived. Keywords: boar, semen, non-return rate, litter size. KUILIŲ SP...
Annals of Animal Science
Reproductive efficiency in pigs is largely dependent on the fertility of the boar. Boars used at insemination stations should produce a large amount of semen with high fertilization capacity. The sperm count influences the conception rate and the number of insemination doses produced. The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological and morphometric characteristics of boars of the Hypor breed in relation to the total sperm count in the ejaculate. An analysis was performed of 120 ejaculates collected from 12 Hypor boars used at three insemination stations. The ejaculate sperm count was found to affect the morphometric characteristics of spermatozoa from boars. In the ejaculates with the lowest sperm count the spermatozoa heads were significantly shorter and narrower and had a smaller surface area. The sperm from ejaculates with the lowest sperm count had relatively small head dimensions in relation to the tail length and total sperm length. In the ejaculates with the most sper...
2005
A statistical approach using sequentially principal component analysis (PCA), clustering, and discriminant analyses was developed to identify sperm morphometric subpopulations in well-defined portions of the fresh boar ejaculate. Semen was obtained as 2 portions (the first 10 mL of the sperm-rich fraction and the rest of the ejaculate, respectively) and frozen using a conventional protocol. Before freezing, an aliquot was used for computerassisted sperm morphometry analysis (ASMA). Postthaw quality was evaluated using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA), and an annexin-V/PI assay evaluated sperm membranes. The PCA revealed that 3 variables represented more than 78% of the cumulative variance in sperm subpopulations. The clustering and discriminant analyses, based on 5780 individual spermatozoa, revealed the ex-istence of 4 sperm subpopulations. The relative percentage of these subpopulations varied between boar and ejaculate portions. Linear regression models based on measured morphometric characteristics could account for up to 36% of the percentage of intact sperm membranes postthaw. The ASMA protocol used in our study was useful to detect subtle morphometric differences between spermatozoa, and the combination of this analysis with a multivariate statistical procedure gave new information on the biological characteristics of boar ejaculates that is not given by conventional sperm analysis.
Reproduction in Domestic Animals, 2013
This study investigates the association of semen traits with boar fertility. The fertility outcome (farrowing rate -FR and total piglets born -TB) of 14 boars was obtained from a field trial conducted during 10 week of breeding period on a commercial farm using multiparous sows (n = 948) through single-sire mating with 2 9 10 9 motile sperm cells per artificial insemination (AI) dose. Sperm motion parameters, evaluated with computer-assisted semen analysis system in raw and stored semen at 17°C for 240 h, in addition to morphological sperm defects, measured on the collection day, were included in the analysis to determine which semen traits were important to discriminate the fertility potential of ejaculates from these boars. The data underwent multivariate cluster, canonical and discriminant analyses. Four clusters of boars were formed based on fertility outcome. One boar, with the lowest FR and TB values (89.7% and 11.98), and two boars, with the highest FR and TB values (97.8% and 14.16), were placed in different clusters. The other boars were separated in two distinct clusters (four and seven boars), including boars with intermediate TB (12.64 and 13.22) but divergent values for FR (95.9% vs 91.8%). Semen traits with higher discriminatory power included total motility, progressive motility, amplitude of lateral head displacement and cytoplasmatic droplets. Through multivariate discriminant analysis, more than 80% of the 140 ejaculates were correctly classified into their own group, showing that this analysis may be an efficient statistical tool to improve the discrimination of potential fertility of boars. Nevertheless, the validation of the relationship between fertility and semen traits using this statistical approach needs to be performed on a larger number of farms and with a greater number of boars.
Theriogenology, 2004
A precise estimation of the fertilizing ability of a boar ejaculate would be very useful to improve pig assisted reproduction results. For this purpose, we tested the mathematical combination of several parameters of the boar semen quality analysis, including the computer-assisted semen motility analysis (CASA), as a predictive fertility tool. The utilized mathematical relations among parameters were logistic and linear regressions. Two mathematical models obtained by logistic regression involving Osmotic Resistance Test (ORT Test), Hyperosmotic Resistance Test (HRT Test) and viability of fresh samples, showed a significant (P < 0:05) correlation between semen characteristics and conception rate. However, none of the obtained models produced a significant correlation model between semen characteristics and prolificacy. The CASA analyses show that three separate subpopulations of spermatozoa with different motility characteristics coexist in boar ejaculates. There were significant (P < 0:001) differences in the distribution of these subpopulations among boars, but no clear relationship between motile subpopulation structure and fertility was obtained. Our results support the belief that the predictive use of the results obtained in a standard boar semen quality analysis can reasonably be achieved by applying logistic correlation analyses among several function parameters of boar semen quality analysis and in vivo conception rates obtained after artificial insemination (AI). #
Journal of Veterinary Research
Introduction Determination of sperm concentration and morphology in ejaculate is essential in evaluating fertility. Sperm shape and dimensions may depend on their concentration in ejaculate. The aim of the study was to evaluate the dependence of Hypor boar morphological and morphometric sperm characteristics on concentration in ejaculate. Material and Methods The study was conducted on 120 ejaculates from 12 Hypor boars. Depending on sperm concentration, they were put into three groups: low, medium, and high. Ejaculate sperm concentration was determined with the photometric method. Slides were prepared from semen samples which were evaluated for the morphology of spermatozoa. The preparations for morphological analyses were by the eosin-gentian staining method. Results As the sperm concentration in the ejaculate increased, the length, perimeter, and area of the sperm heads also did. In the ejaculates with higher sperm concentration the sperm heads were rounder. The ratios of head di...
Relationship between Fertility Traits and Kinematics in Clusters of Boar Ejaculates
Biology, 2021
The aim was to determine the relationship between kinematic parameters of boar spermatozoa and fertility rates of sow, as well as to assess the effect of sperm clusters on the fertility capacity of the ejaculate. Semen samples were collected from 11 sexually mature boars. Samples were analyzed by an ISAS®v1 CASA-Mot system for eight kinematic parameters. Ejaculate clusters were characterized using multivariate procedures, such as principal factors (PFs) analysis and clustering methods (the k-means model). Four different ejaculate clusters were identified from two kinematic PFs which involved linear trajectory and velocity. There were differences (p < 0.05) between the sperm kinematic variables by sire line. There was no statistical difference (p > 0.05) between dam lines and ejaculate clusters in fertility variables. The discriminant ability of the different kinematics of sperm variables to predict litter size fertility was analyzed using receiver operating characteristics (RO...
The effect of breed, boar and season on some properties of sperm
Biotehnologija u stocarstvu, 2013
The main objective of this study was to assess the phenotypic variability of the ejaculate volume (VOL) and progressive sperm motility (MO) under the influence of breed, boar within breed and season. The study included 555 ejaculates of Danish Landrace (DL), Danish Large White (DLW) and Danish Duroc (DD) boars. The effect of boar was analyzed within the investigated breeds. The impact of the season was investigated as the influence of the month in which the ejaculate was taken. The model included a linear regression effect of boar age when the semen was taken. Data analysis was performed using the statistical package SAS 9.1.3 (SAS Inst. Inc.., 2002-2003). Impact assessment was carried out using the GLM procedure. The impact of all factors analyzed in both sperm traits was significant to highly significant, and the observed factors largely explain the phenotypic variability VOL compared to MO. The highest values were found in VOL of DL boar (3:58 ? 164.96 ml), and the MO of boar bre...
Ejaculate traits and sperm morphology depending on ejaculate volume in Duroc boars
Journal of Veterinary Research
The aim of this study was to evaluate the dependence between ejaculate traits, sperm morphology, and ejaculate volume in Duroc boars.The analysis involved 121 ejaculates collected from 12 Duroc boars kept in three artificial insemination centres located in central Poland. Ejaculates were collected manually at one-month intervals, over a period of 10 months. At least 10 ejaculates were collected from each boar. The material was divided by ejaculate volume and each ejaculate was assigned to one of three volume groups: 160 mL and lower, 161–200 mL, and 201 mL and higher. The ejaculates were assessed to identify the basic physical traits and determine the incidence of morphological abnormalities in the spermatozoa, specifying major and minor abnormalities. Furthermore, the morphological structure indices for the spermatozoa were also calculated.In large-volume ejaculates, spermatozoa were more elongated in shape, their heads were more elongated and had the largest flagella. With an incr...
Folia Pomeranae Universitatis Technologiae Stetinensis Agricultura, Alimentaria, Piscaria et Zootechnica
Streszczenie. W niniejszej pracy podjęto próbę oceny międzyrasowej i wewnątrzrasowej zmienności ejakulatów oraz morfologii, wymiarów i kształtu plemników knurów inseminacyjnych. Podstawowe cechy ejakulatów cechuje relatywnie duża zmienność wewnątrzrasowa i międzyrasowa. Ejakulaty knurów ras Landrace i Large White mają wyraźnie większą objętość niż ejakulaty knurów rasy Duroc oraz mieszańców Duroc × Pietrain, a ejakulaty knurów rasy Landrace zawierają więcej plemników niż ejakulaty knurów innych ras. Plemniki knurów mieszańców wykazują mniejszą ruchliwość niż plemniki knurów innych ras. W ejakulatach knurów wszystkich ras stwierdzono bardzo małą frekwencję plemników ze zmianami głównymi i podrzędnymi. Frekwencję zmian morfologicznych plemników cechuje bardzo duża zmienność wewnątrzrasowa, przy stosunkowo małej zmienności międzyrasowej. Wymiary morfometryczne plemników cechuje mała zmienność wewnątrzrasowa, przy relatywnie dużej zmienności międzyrasowej. Plemniki knurów rasy Landrace mają wyraźnie dłuższe witki oraz większe pole powierzchni główki niż plemniki knurów innych ras.