ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE PRESENCE OF A 38 kDa FACTOR IN THE SEMINAL PLASMA AND INHIBITION OF SPERM MOTILITY IN JUNDIÁ FISH Rhamdia quelen

Abstract

Protein factors have been identified in the seminal plasmaof fish and mammal species and, in some situations, associatedto sperm quality indicators. However, for jundiá fish (Rhamdiaquelen), such factors and those potential associations remainunknown. In the present study, we aimed to identify some proteinfactors present in the seminal plasma of jundiá fish and to evaluatetheir association to sperm motility. SDS-PAGE was used to identify14 bands, with molecular weight ranging from 217.1 to 7.1 kDa.Sperm motility was evaluated for 21 males. Four protein bands(81.5; 60.4; 33.6; and 25.5 kDa) were present in all seminal plasmasamples. One protein band with molecular weight of 38.3 kDa wasassociated to reduced sperm motility of jundiá (P<0.01), since itwas detected in 91.4% of the samples having motility lower than80%. These results suggest that this seminal protein band associatedto lower sperm motility may be considered a potential biochemicalmarker for sperm quality.

Keywords

• protein
• Rhamdia quelen
• SDS-PAGE
• seminal plasma
• sperm motility