Flow cytometric sex-sorting and cryopreservation of dairy buck spermatozoa

Authors

  • Nicole Marie Mace

Abstract

The dairy goat industry in Australia is expanding due to an increase in consumer demand for alternative dairy products as a result of demographic and social changes in society. Pre-determination of sex through sperm sorting coupled with AI has the potential to improve the efficiency of production of Australian dairy goat herds by selecting for the most productive sex; in this instance, replacement does for breeding and milk production. Sex pre-selection can only be achieved efficiently by separation based on the difference in DNA content of X- and Y- chromosome-bearing spermatozoa. Artificial insemination of non-sexed fresh and frozen-thawed sperm is commercially available to dairy goat producers, yet unfortunately not widely adopted.To date no efforts have been made to pre-select the sex of goat kids using sex-sorted sperm. Offspring of pre-determined sex have been successfully produced using fresh (non-frozen) and frozen-thawed spermatozoa in pigs, cattle and sheep. Regardless, substantial losses are still evident before, during and after sorting and freezing as well as a general reduction in the survival rate, membrane integrity and fertilising ability of sexed and frozen sperm compared with non-sexed and non-frozen counterparts.

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Published

2009-07-28

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2009)

Section

Review Article

License

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