Abstract
Conventional sperm analysis (i.e., motility and fertility) has been used to evaluate sperm quality. Understanding the quality of sperm on the molecular level in the sturgeons, Acipenser baerii and A. schrenckii, is essential for the improvement of the conservation of genetic resources and farming performance. In this study, we used the iTRAQ proteomics approach to perform proteomic profiling of spermatozoa associated with sperm quality in sturgeons (Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD006108). The results showed 291 and 359 differentially expressed proteins in A. baerii and A. schrenckii, respectively, of which 72 were common to both species and all were upregulated in high quality compared with low quality samples. The differentially expressed proteins were mainly categorized into the generation of precursor metabolites and energy and oxidation, and they were localized to the mitochondria. Three distinguishing pathways, Arginine and proline metabolism, Pyruvate metabolism and the Citrate cycle (TCA cycle) were found to play an important role in energy metabolism, and some substrates could be used in the sperm medium for storage and cryopreservation. The quantity levels of two proteins, CKMT1 and LDHB, were verified by western blot analysis. Moreover, other potential biomarkers involved in oxidation reduction, ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent proteolysis, chaperones and binding activity were also discussed. Our study is the first to use the iTRAQ-based proteomics approach to analyse the sturgeon spermatozoa proteome, and the results that we obtained are valuable for the prediction of sperm quality and reproduction management in these threatened species.
Highlights
Sturgeons, as “living fossils”, belong to the order Acipenseriformes, which is one of the oldest in the class Actinopterygii [1]
We divided the spermatozoa into high and low quality groups according to sperm motility and the fertilization rate
We identified 1431 and 1117 proteins in A. baerii and A. schrenckii, respectively, where 291 and 359 of which had a >1.5-fold difference in quantity levels in the high quality group compared to the low quality group
Summary
As “living fossils”, belong to the order Acipenseriformes, which is one of the oldest in the class Actinopterygii [1]. The population of sturgeons was declined dramatically due to overharvesting, construction of dams and pollutions etc. Most of them are in endangered conditions. The quality of sturgeon sperm is quite different among different males. Research in the Public Interest of the Ministry of Agriculture of China (201203086, Qiwei Wei received the funding), the Special Scientific Research Fund for Central Non-profit Institutes, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (2015B02YQ01, Ping Li received the funding; 2016GH04, Chuangju Li received the funding), the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic-projects “CENAKVA” (CZ.1.05/ 2.1.00/01.0024, Otomar Linhart received the funding), “CENAKVA II” (LO1205 under the NPU I program, Otomar Linhart received the funding), and the Czech Science Foundation (16-02407Y, Ping Li received the funding)
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