Correlation of frequency of spermatozoa morphological alterations with sperm concentration in ejaculates of Polish Landrace boars

Abstract

The experiments were performed on 448 ejaculates obtained from 41 Polish Landrace boars. Ejaculates collected from each boar at one-month intervals for approximately 10 months were analysed. Sperm morphometric measurements were taken from each boar and assessment of semen morphology was done on the basis of examination under a microscope of preparations made from fresh ejaculates. The ejaculates were classified based on the criterion of sperm concentration and divided into three groups. An attempt was made in the present study to assess the correlation of ejaculate parameters, morphological sperm alteration incidence and morphometric sperm parameters with the sperm concentration in ejaculates of Polish Landrace boars. It should be stated that morphometric traits of spermatozoa are related to sperm concentration. The spermatozoa in concentrated ejaculates had smaller heads than the spermatozoa in the ejaculates with lower sperm concentrations. This can mean that the high fertility of males that produce highly concentrated semen does not only result from a high sperm concentration, but also from the fact that the spermatozoa in such ejaculates have smaller heads. The highest frequency of morphologically well-formed spermatozoa was identified in ejaculates with the sperm concentration ranging from 400 to 500 thousand/mm3.

Keywords

• boar
• ejaculate
• sperm concentration