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Crespo F, Wilson R, Díaz-Jimenez M, Consuegra C, Dorado J, Barrado BG, Gosálvez J, Smit RL, Hidalgo M, Johnston S. Effect of season on individual stallion semen characteristics. Anim Reprod Sci 2020; 223:106641. [PMID: 33160762 DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2020.106641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Horses are long-day seasonal breeding animals, however, with modern stallion reproductive management it is important for collection of semen during periods that are not part of the traditional breeding season. This study was conducted to examine variation in the seminal characteristics of individual stallions in Avila, Spain during 1 year with a particular emphasis on sperm DNA fragmentation. Semen was collected twice per season from a total of 20 stallions. There was a marked seasonal effect on all seminal characteristics, with the greatest on progressive motility, % membrane integrity and least for SDF in the spring months; there was also an interaction effect with respect to individual stallion, indicating that some stallions did not fit this generalised pattern for semen quality. Sperm DNA fragmentation was assessed both immediately after semen collection (T0) and following incubation of extended semen for 24 h (T24) to broadly mimic changes in SDF that might occur in the female reproductive tract. While SDF evaluated at T0 was also generally less in spring, the proportion of stallions with the least SDF values in spring increased from 45% to 60% when assessed at T24, therefore, being consistent with the importance of dynamic SDF assessment in detecting DNA damage that was not detected at T0 or cryptic DNA damage. The results from this study indicate there is individual seasonal variation among stallions in all aspects of seminal characteristics; such variation needs to be considered when prioritising stallions that are to be used for breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Crespo
- Centro Militar de Cría Caballar de Ávila, Cría Caballar de las Fuerzas Armadas, Ávila, 05005, Spain
| | - R Wilson
- School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia
| | - M Díaz-Jimenez
- Veterinary Reproduction Group, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14071, Spain
| | - C Consuegra
- Veterinary Reproduction Group, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14071, Spain
| | - J Dorado
- Veterinary Reproduction Group, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14071, Spain
| | - B García Barrado
- Veterinary Reproduction Group, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14071, Spain
| | - J Gosálvez
- Department of Biology, Genetics Unit, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) 20849. Madrid, Spain
| | - R Louis Smit
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, 4343, Australia
| | - M Hidalgo
- Veterinary Reproduction Group, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, 14071, Spain
| | - S Johnston
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, 4343, Australia.
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