Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2004
Sperm morphology in Estonian and Tori breed stallions
Kavak A, Lundeheim N, Aidnik M, Einarsson SAbstract
The standard procedure for assessing the breeding potential of a stallion includes the parameter total number of spermatozoa classified as morphologically normal. This study investigated sperm morphology of fresh semen in randomly chosen Estonian (E, n=8) and Tori (T, n=7) breed stallions with proven fertility. Two ejaculates were examined from each stallion. An aliquot from each ejaculate was fixed in 1 mL formol-saline immediately after collection and examined with phase-contrast microscope at a magnification 1000x for all types of morphological abnormalities. Furthermore smears were prepared and stained according to Williams (carbolfuchsin-eosin) for a more detailed examination of the sperm heads with light microscope at a magnification 1000x. Analysis of variance was applied to the data, and results are presented as LSmeans (+/-SE). One T stallion that had a disturbance in the spermatogenesis and one 22-year-old E stallion were not included in the analyses. The T stallions had on average 57.5+/-4.1% and the E-stallions 74.4+/-3.8% morphologically normal spermatozoa (p=0.012). In 4 of 7 T stallions and 7 of 8 E stallions both ejaculates had >50% morphologically normal spermatozoa. There was a significant difference between breeds in mean percentage of proximal droplets (17.3+/-2.7% and 2.9+/-2.5% for T and E stallions, respectively; p=0.003)Keywords
Sperm morphology; stallionPublished in
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica2004, volume: 45, number: 1-2, pages: 11-18
Publisher: DANSKE DYRLAEGEFORENING
Authors' information
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
Kavak, Ants
Aidnik, Madis
UKÄ Subject classification
Veterinary Science
Animal and Dairy Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-45-11
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/3759