Altered Expression Pattern of Major Seminal Plasma Protein Genes in Seminal Vesicles of Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Abstract

The binder of sperm proteins (BSP) are secretary products of seminal vesicles. Secretions from the seminal vesicles contribute more to seminal plasma which determine the quality of the semen. The concentration of BSPs in seminal plasma has been negatively correlated with cryopreservation. An analysis of expression profile of seminal plasma proteins could be critical for better freezability of semen. Present study was carried out to assess the expression levels of major seminal plasma protein genes viz., BSP1, BSP3 and BSP5 from seminal vesicles of water buffalo using Real Time PCR. The study consisted of identification of a suitable reference gene in seminal vesicles followed by the expression analysis of major bovine seminal plasma protein (BSP) genes. The most stable reference gene among the three (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, ribosomal protein S15a (RPS15a) and beta-actin), was found to be RPS15a and therefore, was used for normalization of target gene expression. Data analysis of major BSPs showed highest relative expression of BSP3 followed by BSP1 and BSP5. The ratio of relative expression of BSP1:BSP3:BSP5 was 10:18:1. The results from the study also showed an altered expression pattern of major BSP genes in buffalo seminal vesicles. Thus, it can be concluded that the altered expression of these genes at mRNA level would also be reflected at protein level in the seminal plasma. This could be one of the probable reasons for poor freezability of buffalo semen as compared to cattle and the finding helps in designing better cryopreservation strategies for buffalo semen.