Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 7;13(4):579.
doi: 10.3390/ani13040579.

Ram Semen Cryopreservation for Portuguese Native Breeds: Season and Breed Effects on Semen Quality Variation

João Pedro Barbas  1   2 , Jorge Pimenta  1   2 , Maria Conceição Baptista  1 , Carla Cruz Marques  1 , Rosa Maria Lino Neto Pereira  1   2 , Nuno Carolino  1   2 , João Simões  3
Affiliations

Ram Semen Cryopreservation for Portuguese Native Breeds: Season and Breed Effects on Semen Quality Variation

João Pedro Barbas et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

The semen quality is one of the determinant factors of ram semen cryopreservation. The present retrospective study aimed to characterize the seasonal ram pattern during the year for ten Portuguese local sheep breeds, hypothesizing that the breed and season had low effects on the main spermatozoa traits. A total of 1471 ejaculates were used and evaluated (fresh semen) from 85 rams between 2004 and 2020 and re-evaluated after thawing (thawed semen). The effect of breed, season, and sperm cryopreservation on nine semen traits were evaluated. The volume per ejaculate, spermatozoa (SPZ) concentration, and total number of SPZ per ejaculate, were affected by breed (p < 0.001) but not by season (p > 0.05). As expected, the semen processing was the most significant (p < 0.001) factor of variation on seminal parameters. Moreover, breed and interactions between breed × semen processing, modulated the response of alive SPZ, abnormal morphology, head, and intermediate piece defects. In fresh semen, season only affected the intermediate piece defects due to the highest percentage observed between February and April period in some breeds. Overall, and despite the mentioned particularities, there were similarities among the ten local breeds. We also concluded that the seasonal effect on ejaculate and SPZ traits is not significant in our region. These local ram breeds have low seasonality and can be employed in natural mating as well as semen donors for cryopreservation and assisted reproductive biotechnologies during the whole year at our latitude.

Keywords: germplasm bank; local breeds; ram; reproductive biotechnologies; semen cryopreservation; spermatozoa.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
LSmean differences (p < 0.001) of spermatozoa alive (a), individual motility (b), abnormal morphology (c), head (d), intermediate piece (e) and tail (f) defects in fresh and thawed semen for 10 Portuguese local ram breeds. The vertical bars represent the 95% confidence interval.
Figure 2
Figure 2
LSmean differences (p < 0.01) of intermediate piece by the season and processing semen. The vertical bars represent the 95% confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. DGAV General Directorate for Food and Veterinary. In Official Catalog of Portuguese Autochthonous Breeds; DGAV, Lisbon, 2021. [(accessed on 1 February 2023)]. Available online: https://www.dgav.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Catalogo-Oficial-Racas-Au....
    1. Mascarenhas R., Baptista M., Cavaco-Gonçalves S., Barbas J.P. [Characterization of Reproductive Activity and Use of AI in Small Ruminants] In: Coelho P.S., Reis P., editors. Agrorrural. INRB; INCM; Lisbon, Portugal: 2011. pp. 1071–1082.
    1. Barbas J.P., Mascarenhas R.D. Cryopreservation of Domestic Animal Sperm Cells. Cell Tissue Bank. 2009;10:49–62. doi: 10.1007/s10561-008-9081-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Balaro M.F., da Fonseca J.F., Oba E., da Cruz Cardoso E., Brandão F.Z. Is the Santa Inês Sheep a Typical Non-Seasonal Breeder in the Brazilian Southeast? Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 2014;46:1533–1537. doi: 10.1007/s11250-014-0672-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rosa H.J.D., Bryant M.J. Seasonality of Reproduction in Sheep. Small Rumin. Res. 2003;48:155–171. doi: 10.1016/S0921-4488(03)00038-5. - DOI