Wood Kyle R, Litvak Matthew K, Liyanage Samitha S N, Martin Kaylan A, Tackett V MacKenzie, Dunham Rex A, Roy Luke A, Faulk Cynthia K, Beck Benjamin H, Abernathy Jason W, Wang Xu, Butts Ian A E
School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
Department of Biology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, E4L 1C9, Canada.
Theriogenology. 2025 Oct 1;245:117487. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2025.117487. Epub 2025 May 14.
There is a lack of biomarkers that can be used to predict fresh and frozen-thawed sperm quality for the commercially important blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus. Sperm membranes are composed of various fatty acids (FAs) that have been linked to reproductive success across other animal and fish taxa, making it a potential biomarker. The objectives of this study were to (i) compare sperm FA percentages between fresh and cryopreserved male groups; and (ii) use sperm kinematics of fresh and cryopreserved males to create "good" (i.e. fast swimming sperm kinematics) and "bad" (i.e. slow swimming sperm kinematics) quality groups, then compare FA percentages of the groups to pinpoint physiological biomarkers of fresh and frozen-thawed sperm quality and cryotolerance. We found significant differences between fresh and cryopreserved sperm where fresh sperm had significantly higher ratios of n-3:n-6 and EPA:ARA as well as n-3 PUFAs and MUFAs, while cryopreserved sperm had higher concentrations of saturates. Cryopreserved sperm from good and bad males also had differences, such as a significantly higher concentration of saturates in good males and significantly higher concentrations of MUFAs, n-6 PUFAs, n-3 PUFAs, and total PUFAs in bad males. Lastly, low levels of MUFAs and n-6 PUFAs in fresh sperm resulted in higher post-thaw sperm kinematics. This knowledge can now be used to create additional biomarkers of sperm quality and to formulate the FA profile of catfish diets to improve sperm quality, thereby, improving their ability to handle the stressors of the cryopreservation process.
对于具有重要商业价值的蓝鲶（Ictalurus furcatus），目前缺乏可用于预测新鲜和冻融后精子质量的生物标志物。精子膜由各种脂肪酸（FAs）组成，这些脂肪酸与其他动物和鱼类分类群的繁殖成功有关，使其成为一种潜在的生物标志物。本研究的目的是：（i）比较新鲜和冷冻保存雄性组之间的精子脂肪酸百分比；（ii）利用新鲜和冷冻保存雄性的精子运动学创建“优质”（即精子运动速度快）和“劣质”（即精子运动速度慢）质量组，然后比较两组的脂肪酸百分比，以确定新鲜和冻融后精子质量及耐冻性的生理生物标志物。我们发现新鲜精子和冷冻保存精子之间存在显著差异，新鲜精子的n-3:n-6、EPA:ARA以及n-3多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFAs）和单不饱和脂肪酸（MUFAs）比例显著更高，而冷冻保存精子的饱和脂肪酸浓度更高。优质和劣质雄性的冷冻保存精子也存在差异，例如优质雄性的饱和脂肪酸浓度显著更高，而劣质雄性的MUFAs、n-6 PUFAs、n-3 PUFAs和总PUFAs浓度显著更高。最后，新鲜精子中低水平的MUFAs和n-6 PUFAs导致解冻后精子运动学指标更高。这些知识现在可用于创建额外的精子质量生物标志物，并制定鲶鱼饲料的脂肪酸谱以提高精子质量，从而提高它们应对冷冻保存过程应激源的能力。
