The spermatogenous function in the BALB/cLac and DD/He murine inbred lines and their F1 reciprocal crosses

Abstract

Previously, it was determined that the murine inbred line DD/He has the lowest fraction of mobile and morphologically anomalous spermatozoa as compared with 13 other studied lines. In contrast, the BALB/cLac line is characterized by the highest fraction of mobile and anomalous spermatozoa. It was suggested that a decreased fraction of mobile spermatozoa in the murine DD/He line, as well as a high fraction of anomalous spermatozoa in BALB/cLac are caused by mutations in Y-chromosome genes. In order to test this hypothesis, the mobility and morphology of spermatozoa, as well as the amount of spermatozoa in the caudal epididymis, as well as the weight of the body and testes, were studied in F1 males of DD/He × BALB/cLac and BALB/cLac × DD/He reciprocal crosses. The heterosis effects for all studied traits (except the fraction of mobile spermatozoa) were determined. An influence of parental effects on the fraction of atypical spermatozoa and on the weight of testes was detected, which can indicate the involvement of Y-chromosome gene (genes) in the genetic control if these traits. Maternal effects on the fraction of mobile spermatozoa were found.