Effect of Season on Physico-Morphological Attributes of Cryopreserved Hariana Bull Spermatozoa

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of seasonal variations on various seminal attributes and freezability of Hariana bull semen. The study was conducted over a period of four months and divided into two peak seasons as winter (December-January) and summer (May-June). Twenty-four ejaculates were collected from 4 bulls in each season. The physico-morphological characteristics of semen, viz., volume (ml), mass activity (0-5 scale), pH, sperm concentration (million/ ml), progressive motility (%), sperm livability (%), HOST (%), total morphological sperm abnormality (%) and acrosomal integrity (%) were estimated at different stages of cryopreservation in different seasons. During summer season the ejaculate volume and seminal pH were found non-significantly higher than in winter, whereas the percentage of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa was significantly (p Lass Than 0.05) higher in summer. Post- thaw percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa was significantly (p Lass Than 0.05) higher in winter than summer season. Live sperm per cent were significantly (p Lass Than 0.05) higher in winter than summer season both at fresh and pre-freeze stage. HOST positive sperm and acrosomal integrity were significantly (p Lass Than 0.01) higher in winter season than summer at all three stages. The study generated basic information that the summer season adversely affects the various physico-morphological characteristics of Hariana bull semen altering its freezability.

Characteristics of Bachaur bull semen

“…The HOST percentage (81.16 ± 1.18) of Bachaur bulls in our study seemed similar to Haryana bulls (80.38 ± 0.66; Singh et al., 2018). The lowest value was reported by Chauhan et al.…”

“…The average mass motility was lower in the present study seemed to Kankrej bull semen (3.83 ± 0.10; Kumar et al, 2013), Hallikar bull semen (4.32 ± 0.01; Kumar et al, 2020) and Haryana bull semen (3.92 ± 0.07; Singh et al, 2018).…”

“…The average liveability percentage in our study was 85.09 ± 0.91 which seemed lower from Haryana bull semen (89.83 ± 0.60; Singh et al., 2018), Kankrej bull (89.54 ± 0.38; Kapadiya et al., 2018) and Frieswal bull semen (78.93 ± 0.04; Chauhan et al., 2017) respectively.…”

“…The average percentage of spermatozoon abnormalities in our study was 4.13 ± 0.06 that seemed to Kankrej bulls (4.24 ± 0.03; Kumar et al., 2013) and Haryana bulls (4.00 ± 0.33; Singh et al., 2018). The value of present study was seemed to be higher in Haryana bull (2.71 ± 0.1; Singh et al., 2018) and Kankrej bulls (3.38 ± 0.22; Kapadiya et al., 2018). The major sperm abnormalities observed in freshly ejaculated Bachaur bull semen were pear‐shaped head, narrow base, proximal protoplasmic droplet, ‘Dag’ defect and double tail amongst major abnormalities and free head, distal droplets, simple bent tails, terminally coiled tail amongst the minor sperm abnormalities (Table 3, Figure 1C).…”

“…The average individual motility percentage of semen was 84.78 ± 1.70 in the present study. The higher value of individual motility was observed in Kankrej bull semen (86.15 ± 0.30; Kumar et al, 2013) The average percentage of spermatozoon abnormalities in our study was 4.13 ± 0.06 that seemed to Kankrej bulls (4.24 ± 0.03; Kumar et al, 2013) and Haryana bulls (4.00 ± 0.33; Singh et al, 2018). The value of present study was seemed to be higher in Haryana bull (2.71 ± 0.1; Singh et al, 2018) and Kankrej bulls (3.38 ± 0.22; Kapadiya et al, 2018).…”