Preliminary comparative deep metabolomic analysis of spermatozoa from zebu and crossbred cattle suggests associations between metabolites, sperm quality and fertility
Mohua DasGupta A , Arumugam Kumaresan
A D , Kaustubh Kishor Saraf A , Gayathree Karthikkeyan B , T. S. Keshava Prasad B , Prashant Kumar Modi B , Kerekoppa Ramesha C , Sakthivel Jeyakumar C and Ayyasamy Manimaran C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Theriogenology Laboratory, Southern Regional Station of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, 560030, Karnataka, India.
B Centre for Systems Biology and Molecular Medicine, Yenepoya Research Centre, Yenepoya, Mangalore, 575018, Karnataka, India.
C Dairy Production Section, Southern Regional Station of ICAR, National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, 560030, Karnataka, India.
D Corresponding author. Email: A.Kumaresan@icar.gov.in
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 33(6) 427-436 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD20304
Submitted: 19 November 2020 Accepted: 15 February 2021 Published: 29 March 2021
Abstract
Poor semen quality and infertility/subfertility are more frequent in crossbred than zebu bulls. Using a high-throughput liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based approach, we established the preliminary metabolomic profile of crossbred and zebu bull spermatozoa (n = 3 bulls each) and identified changes in sperm metabolomics between the two groups. In all, 1732 and 1240 metabolites were detected in zebu and crossbred bull spermatozoa respectively. After excluding exogenous metabolites, 115 and 87 metabolites were found to be unique to zebu and crossbred bull spermatozoa respectively whereas 71 metabolites were common to both. In the normalised data, 49 metabolites were found to be differentially expressed between zebu and crossbred bull spermatozoa. The significantly enriched (P < 0.05) pathways in spermatozoa were taurine and hypotaurine metabolism (observed metabolites taurine and hypotaurine) in zebu and glycerophospholipid metabolism (observed metabolites phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine) in crossbred bulls. The abundance of nitroprusside (variable importance in projection (VIP) score >1.5) was downregulated, whereas that of l-cysteine, acetyl coenzyme A and 2′-deoxyribonucleoside 5′-diphosphate (VIP scores >1.0) was upregulated in crossbred bull spermatozoa. In conclusion, this study established the metabolomic profile of zebu and crossbred bull spermatozoa and suggests that aberrations in taurine, hypotaurine and glycerophospholipid metabolism may be associated with the higher incidence of infertility/subfertility in crossbred bulls.
Keywords: crossbred bulls, crossbreed, infertility, metabolomics, spermatozoa, subfertility, zebu.
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