Abstract
At present, frozen-thawed semen is used extensively for artificial insemination (AI) in Ethiopia. However, subjective semen quality assessment is still practiced by the semen processing organizations of the country. In this study, motility and motion characteristics of spermatozoa were assessed by using integrated semen analysis system (ISAS) to diagnose breed differences in quality of semen. Semen was collected from 14 breeding bulls (Boran = 4, Crosses of 75 % Holstein Frisian ËŸ 25% Boran = 4 and Holstein Frisian = 6). After initial subjective assessment, the semen was evaluated at fresh, chilled and frozen stages for various sperm motion characteristics using integrated semen analysis system (ISAS® v1, Proiser, Spain). PH, volume and morphological defects were differed significantly (P < 0.05) among breeds. Significantly higher (P < 0.05) motility percentage (82.5%) was identified in Boran fresh semen. In contrast spermatozoa motion characteristics: Medium, medium progressive and slow types were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in crosses. Individual motility percentage and spermatozoa motion types (medium and slow) were significantly low (P < 0.05) in Boran chilled semen. In line with chilled semen significantly high motility percentage (42.9%) for frozen semen was observed in HF. The sperm kinematic parameters: Average path velocity (VAP, µm/s), straight line velocity (VSL, µm/s), curvilinear velocity (VCL, µm/s), amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH, µm), beat cross frequency (BCF, Hz) and straightness (STR) percentage were differed significantly (P < 0.05) among the three breeds at all stages of semen production. The smallest kinematic values of all parameters except for LIN, STR and WOB of fresh semen were recorded in cross breed bulls at all stages of production. On the other hand significantly higher (P < 0.05) values for all the parameters (VCL, VAP, VSL, ALH, BCF, LIN, STR and WOB) of frozen semen were recorded in Boran breed. Thus it is possible to conclude that breed has influence on motility and motion characteristics of bull spermatozoa at different stages of semen production. Key words: Boran, Integrated Semen Analysis System (ISAS), kinematic parameters.
Highlights
Efficiency of Artificial Insemination (AI) system in cattle invariably depends on selection of the best breed of bull
Most of the fresh semen kinematic parameters (VSL, VAP, beat cross frequency (BCF), LIN, STR and WOB) were significantly higher in HF breed compared to Boran and Crosses
On the other hand significantly smaller kinematic parametric values of VCL, VSL, VAP, Amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) and BCF were recorded in Crosses (Table 2)
Summary
Efficiency of Artificial Insemination (AI) system in cattle invariably depends on selection of the best breed of bull. Failure of many bulls to consistently and efficiently breed has been reported to be associated with the production of poor quality semen, seasonal changes in semen quality, high incidence of abnormal spermatozoa and problems. Efficiency problems have been previously reported for the AI system (Desalegn et al, 2009), virtually no objective data exist for evaluation of semen from Borans and their Holstein Crosses using advanced technology (Tegegne et al, 1995). It is hypothesized that breed differences in quality of semen can be diagnosed using a multiparametric semen evaluation that employ advanced technique. An integrated semen analysis system (ISAS) has been used to evaluate the influence of breed in the quality of semen
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