Characterization of epididymal sperm from Spix's yellow‐toothed cavies (Galea spixii Wagler, 1831) recovered by different methods

Abstract

da Silva, A.M., Bezerra, J.A.B., Campos, L.B., Praxedes, E.C.G., Lima, G.L. and Silva, A.R. 2017. Characterization of epididymal sperm from Spix's yellow-toothed cavies (Galea spixii Wagler, 1831) recovered by different methods. -Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 98: 285-291.The aim of the present study was to characterize the epididymal sperm of Spix's yellow-toothed cavy (Galea spixii) through two different recovery methods. Nine sexually mature males were euthanized and the complexes, testes-epididymis, were dissected. For each animal, one epididymis was processed by flotation method and the other was processed by retrograde flushing method, both using a TES-based buffered media. After recovery, we evaluated the sperm for motility, vigour, viability, functional membrane integrity and morphology. Morphometric data from the different sperm regions were evaluated by using an appropriate software. After recovery, both methods provide similar values for all the sperm parameters, aiming the recovery of more than 300 9 10 6 sperm, presenting >50% motile sperm, with normal morphology and functional membrane. The total sperm length in this sperm was 48.87 AE 0.1, and the sperm head presented 9.4%, on average. A notable characteristic was the prominent acrosome found in the G. spixii sperm. In conclusion, we demonstrate that either flotation or retrograde flushing methods are suitable for the recovery of sperm from cauda epididymis of Spix's yellow-toothed cavies.

Cryopreservation of collared peccary (Pecari tajacu L., 1758) epididymal sperm using extenders based on Tris and powdered coconut water (ACP®-116c)

“…The retrograde flushing method provided the recovery of adequate amounts of epididymal sperm from peccaries, with minimal contamination by red blood cells, as reported for other species (Martínez-Pastor et al ., 2006; Silva et al ., 2017). Using both extenders, peccaries’ epididymal sperm showed characteristics similar to those found for fresh semen obtained by electroejaculation (Souza et al ., 2015; Souza et al ., 2016; Campos et al ., 2017).…”

Conservation of germplasm derived from spix’s yellow-toothed cavies (Galea spixii WAGLER, 1831)

“…At this moment, sperm can be visualized in the ejaculates, characterizing the complete spermatogenesis, which involves eight stages of cycles of the seminiferous epithelium (Santos et al, 2014a). G. spixii's sperm ( Figure 2) presents a rounded head, with a base narrower than the apex, with a very prominent acrosome in the apical surface of the cell head (Silva et al, 2017a). Regarding sperm morphometry, the G. spixii sperm presents a head that occupies 9.4% on average of the total sperm length, 48, 87 ± 0.1 μm (Silva et al, 2017a).…”

“…G. spixii's sperm ( Figure 2) presents a rounded head, with a base narrower than the apex, with a very prominent acrosome in the apical surface of the cell head (Silva et al, 2017a). Regarding sperm morphometry, the G. spixii sperm presents a head that occupies 9.4% on average of the total sperm length, 48, 87 ± 0.1 μm (Silva et al, 2017a). Regarding female, ovaries are dorso-ventrally flattened ovoid structures, with length of 2.7 cm on average (Praxedes et al, 2017), located in the abdominal cavity, in the sublumbar region, surrounded by adipose tissue (Almeida et al, 2003).…”

“…In this context, Silva et al (2017a) recently demonstrate either flotation or retrograde flushing methods are suitable for the recovery of sperm from cauda epididymis of Spix's yellow-toothed cavies. Both methods were able to provide similar values for all the sperm parameters, aiming the recovery of more than 300 million sperm, presenting more than 50% motile sperm, with normal morphology and functional membrane.…”

Epididymis incision as a method to collect epididymal sperm cells in alpacas

“…Alternatively, sperm collection at the isolated epididymides could be performed by retrograde flushing of the epididymis tail through the ductus deferens. To date, the use of this method has been reported in bulls (P. M. Papa et al., 2015 ), male horses (F. O. Papa et al., 2008 ), male dogs (Hori et al., 2015 ), Spix yellow‐toothed guinea pigs ( Galea spixii Wagler ) (da Silva et al., 2017 ) and Iberian ibex ( Capra pyrenaica ) (Santiago‐Moreno et al., 2009 ). For the camelid family, the method has been described for the dromedary camel ( Camelus dromedarius ) (Monaco et al., 2016 ) and alpaca ( Vicugna pacos ) (Mamani‐Mango et al., 2019 ).…”