Preservation and evaluation of semen for artificial insemination
Lindsay Gillan A B , W. M. Chis Maxwell A and Gareth Evans A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Centre for Advanced Technologies in Animal Genetics and Reproduction, The Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
B To whom correspondence should be addressed. email: lindsayg@vetsci.usyd.edu.au
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 16(4) 447-454 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD04034
Accepted: 23 March 2004 Published: 6 July 2004
Abstract
Many years of research have been devoted to improving the fertility of preserved semen of small ruminants. There have been few significant advances in preservation in recent times, but considerable knowledge has been gained on the effect of preservation on the structure and function of spermatozoa. It has become evident that preservation greatly affects many sperm attributes, such as motility, respiratory activity, membrane status and DNA quality. Consequently, viability is reduced, transport in the female reproductive tract is inhibited, the timing of fertilisation is altered and embryo development is affected following insemination of preserved, compared to fresh spermatozoa. A greater understanding of their functional condition may lead to the development of methods of preventing these alterations or to improved methods of using the preserved spermatozoa for artificial insemination in their altered state.
Extra keywords: frozen storage, liquid storage, small ruminant, spermatozoa.
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