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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #357332
Title: Low mobility sperm phenotype in the turkey: impact on sperm morphometrics and early embryonic death

Author
item MANIER, MOLLIE - George Washington University
item Welch, Glenn
item VAN NISPEN, CHRISTIAAN - George Washington University
item BAKST, MURRAY - Retired ARS Employee
item Long, Julie

Submitted to: Theriogenology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/18/2019
Publication Date: 2/18/2019
Citation: Manier, M.K., Welch, G.R., Van Nispen, C., Bakst, M., Long, J.A. 2019. Low mobility sperm phenotype in the turkey: impact on sperm morphometrics and early embryonic death. Theriogenology. 54(3):613-621. https://doi.org/10.1111/rda.13403.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/rda.13403

Interpretive Summary: Sperm mobility is defined as the ability of sperm to swim fast and in a straight line. In birds, the proportion of highly mobile sperm is directly correlated with the rate of fertility. Males possessing this trait or phenotype are known to produce more offspring; whereas males with few mobile sperm sire fewer offspring. The sperm mobility trait is heritable in birds, but the relationship between sperm mobility and fertility is not completely understood. In this study, we examined sperm morphometric traits (length of sperm head, mid-piece and tail sections) from high and low sperm mobility male turkeys, as well as the impact of this trait on early embryonic death in turkey eggs. We found that sperm from high mobility males had longer sperm heads than that of low mobility males, and that the number of early-dead embryos (e.g. between 1 and 3 days old) was higher when the sire was a low mobility male turkey. These results provide new insights into the importance of the sperm mobility trait in turkeys.

Technical Abstract: The sperm mobility assay measures the ability of sperm to swim through a dense layer of Accudenz®, and the sperm mobility phenotype has been shown to predict fertility and other sperm performance traits in roosters and turkeys. In this study, we examined turkey sperm morphometric traits and rates of early embryonic death associated with high and low mobility semen. We also assessed whether the hypo-osmotic stress test, which evaluates the structural integrity of the sperm plasma membrane, may be used as a faster and simpler assay for sperm mobility and viability. We confirmed previous work that found that high mobility sperm are faster and swim more linearly than low mobility sperm, and that mobility traits were repeatable within males. In contrast to previous studies, we did not find higher rates of fertility, but low mobility sperm was associated with higher rates of early embryonic death, though this trend was not significant. High mobility sperm had longer sperm heads, explained by longer nuclei, despite shorter acrosomes. Although these sperm were faster, midpiece length and flagellum length did not differ between high and low mobility sperm. Finally, mobility was not found to be associated with sperm performance in the hypo-osmotic stress test.