Assessment of the morphometry of heads of normal sperm and sperm with the Dag defect in the semen of Duroc boars
Pubblicato online: 23 apr 2021
Pagine: 239 - 244
Ricevuto: 24 giu 2020
Accettato: 23 mar 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2021-0019
Parole chiave
© 2021 D. Banaszewska, K. Andraszek, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction
The Dag defect is one of the primary morphological defects in sperm correlating with reduced fertility. This defect is found in the spermatozoa of many livestock species. The aim of the study was to assess the morphometry of the heads of normal sperm and sperm with the Dag defect in the semen of Duroc breeding boars.
Material and Methods
Sperm morphology was examined in ten ejaculates each from 12 Duroc boars. In total, 3,600 morphologically normal sperm and 838 sperm with the Dag defect were evaluated. The area, perimeter, length and width of the sperm head were measured and these basic morphometric parameters were used to calculate four additional shape indices characterising the sperm head, i.e. ellipticity, elongation, roughness and regularity.
Results
Sperm with this defect had markedly smaller heads, 0.32 μm shorter and 0.19 μm narrower than the heads of sperm with normal morphological structure. The heads of sperm with the Dag defect also had a 1.1μm smaller perimeter and a 2.5 μm2 smaller surface area than the heads of morphologically normal sperm.
Conclusions
The Dag defect is found in boar sperm irrespective of the age of the individual. It affects the morphology of the sperm head.