The Cryopreserved Sperm Traits of Various Ram Breeds: Towards Biodiversity Conservation
Jakub Vozaf,
Andrea Svoradová,
Andrej Baláži,
Jaromír Vašíček,
Lucia Olexiková,
Linda Dujíčková,
Alexander V. Makarevich,
Rastislav Jurčík,
Hana Ďúranová,
Peter Chrenek
Affiliations
Jakub Vozaf
Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94901 Nitra, Slovakia
Andrea Svoradová
NPPC, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecka 2, 95141 Lužianky, Slovakia
Andrej Baláži
NPPC, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecka 2, 95141 Lužianky, Slovakia
Jaromír Vašíček
Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94901 Nitra, Slovakia
Lucia Olexiková
NPPC, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecka 2, 95141 Lužianky, Slovakia
Linda Dujíčková
NPPC, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecka 2, 95141 Lužianky, Slovakia
Alexander V. Makarevich
NPPC, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecka 2, 95141 Lužianky, Slovakia
Rastislav Jurčík
NPPC, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecka 2, 95141 Lužianky, Slovakia
Hana Ďúranová
AgroBioTech Research Centre, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94901 Nitra, Slovakia
Peter Chrenek
Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 94901 Nitra, Slovakia
The aim of our research was to compare three Slovak sheep breeds in the quality parameters of cryopreserved sperm. The ejaculates of Slovak Dairy (SD), Native Wallachian (NW), and Improved Wallachian (IW) sheep rams (n = 12) were collected by electro-ejaculation. Heterospermic samples were created from suitable ejaculates, separately for each breed (at least 90% of total and 80% of progressive motility). Samples were equilibrated in a Triladyl® diluent and frozen by automated freezing. Sperm samples were subjected to the motility, morphology, (CASA), viability and apoptosis (DRAQ7/Yo-Pro-1), fertilizing capability (penetration/fertilization test (P/F) in vitro) and acrosomal status (transmission electron microscopy) assays before freezing and after thawing. It was found that there were no significant differences (p < 0.05) between the evaluated breeds in motility, viability, apoptosis, morphological properties, and fertilizing ability of cryopreserved sperm. Significant differences occurred in acrosomal status. Our results demonstrate that the use of the selected cryopreservation protocol is suitable for at least three different sheep breeds, which can greatly benefit the biodiversity protection and simplifies the creation of an animal genetic resources gene bank.
