School of Agriculture and Environment, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Department of Poultry Science, Sub Campus Toba Tek Singh, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, 36050, Pakistan.
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, 7600, South Africa.
Theriogenology. 2018 Jul 15;115:23-29. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2018.04.012. Epub 2018 Apr 11.
This study investigated the relationship between sperm kinematics and egg fertility in Japanese quail in an attempt to identify a semen trait that could be used to predict male fertility. Males (n=45) and females (n=180) from five strains (A, B, C, D, E) were used. Ejaculates (n=720) were collected from 8 to 38 weeks of male age. Semen volume and sperm concentration were recorded and sperm motility was analyzed using Sperm Class Analyzer (SCA-CASA). At the time of ejaculate collection, males were allowed to mate with females in order to obtain egg fertility data: percent fertile eggs and the numbers of sperm (Sperm) and sperm-holes (Holes) present on the egg perivitelline membranes. Sperm concentration was positively correlated with ejaculate volume (r=0.35; P < 0.01) and percent fertile eggs (r=0.08; P < 0.05). There were high correlations (P < 0.01) among the sperm kinematic parameters: percent motile (MOT%), percent rapid (Rapid%), percent progressive (PROG%), percent medium (Medium%), velocity curvilinear (VCL), velocity straight line (VSL), and velocity average path (VAP), linearity (LIN%), straightness of trajecotry (STR%) and beat cross frequency (BCF). The strains differed with respect to the correlations for sperm kinematics and egg fertility: Sperm was correlated (P < 0.05) with VSL (r=0.18), VAP (r=0.18), and BCF (r=0.23) for Strain A, with PROG% (r=0.17) for Strain B, and with Medium% (r=0.18) for Strain C. When the data were adjusted for the effects of strain and age, Medium% was correlated with Holes (r=0.36; P < 0.01) and percent fertile eggs (r=0.31; P < 0.01), whereas PROG% was correlated with Sperm (r=0.30; P < 0.01) and Holes (r=0.30; P < 0.01). Males could be ranked into high and low fertility categories based on initial (i.e. Week 8) and the life-time (i.e. Weeks 8-38) data for sperm kinematics and egg fertility. Of the males classified as poorly fertile by Week 8 sperm kinematics, 30% were also confirmed as poor on the basis of life-time sperm kinematics. Of the males classified as poorly fertile by Week 8 egg fertility, 47% were confirmed as poor on the basis of life time-data of egg fertility. We concluded that sperm concentration, Medium%, PROG%, VAP, VSL and BCF are important determinants of egg fertility in quail, and that these relationships depend on genotype.
本研究旨在探讨日本鹌鹑精子运动学与卵子受精能力之间的关系，以期找到一种可用于预测雄性生育力的精液特征。本研究使用了来自五个品系（A、B、C、D、E）的 45 只雄性和 180 只雌性。在雄性 8 至 38 周龄时收集了 720 份精液。记录了精液量和精子浓度，并使用精子分类分析器（SCA-CASA）分析精子活力。在采集精液时，雄性与雌性交配，以获得卵子受精数据：可育卵子的百分比、卵周质膜上的精子（Sperm）和精子孔（Holes）数量。精子浓度与精液量呈正相关（r=0.35；P<0.01），与可育卵子的百分比呈正相关（r=0.08；P<0.05）。精子运动学参数之间存在高度相关性（P<0.01）：活力百分比（MOT%）、快速运动百分比（Rapid%）、前向运动百分比（PROG%）、中速运动百分比（Medium%）、曲线速度（VCL）、直线速度（VSL）和平均路径速度（VAP）、直线性（LIN%）、运动轨迹的直线性（STR%）和鞭打频率（BCF）。不同品系的精子运动学和卵子受精能力的相关性不同：对于品系 A，Sperm 与 VSL（r=0.18）、VAP（r=0.18）和 BCF（r=0.23）相关，对于品系 B，与 PROG%（r=0.17）相关，对于品系 C，与 Medium%（r=0.18）相关。当数据调整为品系和年龄的影响时，Medium%与 Holes（r=0.36；P<0.01）和可育卵子的百分比（r=0.31；P<0.01）相关，而 PROG%与 Sperm（r=0.30；P<0.01）和 Holes（r=0.30；P<0.01）相关。可以根据精子运动学和卵子受精能力的初始（即第 8 周）和终生（即第 8-38 周）数据，将雄性分为高生育力和低生育力两类。在第 8 周精子运动学表现不佳的雄性中，有 30%的雄性在终生精子运动学表现也不佳。在第 8 周卵子受精能力不佳的雄性中，有 47%的雄性在终生卵子受精能力数据中被证实为不佳。本研究得出结论，精子浓度、Medium%、PROG%、VAP、VSL 和 BCF 是鹌鹑卵子受精能力的重要决定因素，这些关系取决于基因型。
