Successful cryopreservation of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) spermatozoa

Saragusty, Joseph; Hildebrandt, Thomas B.; Behr, B.; Knieriem, Andreas; Kruse, Jürgen; Hermes, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2008.11.010

Cited by 61 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Neither was there any significant difference between 3% and 5% glycerol with regard to post-thaw semen quality. In this respect, Saragusty et al (2009) reported that 2.5% glycerol and 15% glycerol were, respectively, too low and too high for cryopreserving Asian elephant spermatozoa, but that there was little effect of concentration in between these extremes; they recommended using 4% glycerol for cryopreserving Asian elephant sperm. On the side of caution, while post-thaw sperm motility is often very good after cryopreservation with a medium containing a high percentage of glycerol (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, the components of a sperm cryopreservation extender include a non-permeating cryoprotectant, a penetrating cryoprotectant, a buffer, one or more sugars, salts and antibiotics (Evans and Maxwell, 1987). The earliest reports on the cryopreservation of Asian elephant sperm described the use of egg-yolk as the nonpermeating cryoprotectant and glycerol as the penetrating cryoprotectant (Thongtip et al, 2004;Saragusty et al, 2009). Recent studies have indicated that skim-milk powder is an equally effective non-permeating cryoprotectant for Asian elephant sperm (Saragusty et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The earliest reports on the cryopreservation of Asian elephant sperm described the use of egg-yolk as the nonpermeating cryoprotectant and glycerol as the penetrating cryoprotectant (Thongtip et al, 2004;Saragusty et al, 2009). Recent studies have indicated that skim-milk powder is an equally effective non-permeating cryoprotectant for Asian elephant sperm (Saragusty et al, 2009). Although glycerol is a widely used, and useful, permeating cryoprotectant for sperm cryopreservation, several authors have reported toxic or apparently contraceptive effects of glycerol included in the inseminate (reviewed by Fahy et al, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, African elephant semen has been cryopreserved successfully, and this encouraged attempts to cryopreserve Asian elephant semen using the same extenders. Unfortunately, the post-thaw quality of cryopreserved Asian elephant semen proved to be very low, and relatively few bulls were capable of providing semen able to adequately survive the freezing process (Graham et al, 2004;Thongtip et al, 2004;Sa-Ardrit et al, 2006;Saragusty et al, 2009). While post-thaw semen quality depends on a variety of factors, fresh semen quality is used as one of the primary indicators of suitability for semen cryopreservation in many species; in particular, the percentage of motile sperm is a widely used criterion for selecting semen samples prior to freezing (Isachenko et al, 2004;Saragusty et al, 2009;Akhter et al, 2010;Stoops et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although captive populations have been established and maintained, they are not currently considered sustainable due to a combination of factors, including the risk of inbreeding within the geographically isolated populations, low fertility, unbalanced sex ratios and high infant mortality. Artificial insemination (AI) techniques have been developed in an attempt to facilitate genetic management (Saragusty et al, 2009;Thongtip et al, 2009), and are relatively successful when using fresh or chilled semen (Schmitt et al, 2001). In addition, African elephant semen has been cryopreserved successfully, and this encouraged attempts to cryopreserve Asian elephant semen using the same extenders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of pre-freeze semen quality, extender and cryoprotectant on the post-thaw quality of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) semen

et al. 2013

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Semen cryopreservation and artificial insemination (AI) are potentially valuable methods for supporting the breeding management of endangered species like the Asian elephant. Cryopreservation of Asian elephant semen has however proven problematic with respect to maintenance of both adequate semen quality and fertility post-thaw. In this study, nine ejaculates from three adult bulls were used to compare the influence of extender (TEST versus INRA96 ® ) and penetrating cryoprotectants (3% glycerol, 5% glycerol and 4% methylformamide) on postthaw semen quality. We demonstrate that not only the freezing process, but also the quality of the semen before freezing, significantly influences the freezability of Asian elephant semen. Prefreeze motility, viability, semen volume, semen pH, sperm concentration and the incidence of sperm mid-piece and tail abnormalities all significantly (p<0.05) affected post-thaw semen quality. While extender and cryoprotectant did not significantly affect any of the above semen quality parameters post-thaw, the skim-milk based extender (INRA96 ® ) preserved DNA integrity better (p<0.05) than the egg yolk extender (TEST). Considerable between-ejaculate variation in all postthaw semen quality parameters was also noted. It is concluded that strict criteria for semen quality is essential for the selection of Asian elephant bull ejaculates suitable for cryopreservation; stricter initial selection should improve the mean post-thaw quality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of pre-freeze semen quality, extender and cryoprotectant on the post-thaw quality of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) semen

et al. 2013

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Ultrastructural description of fresh and frozen/thawed sperm derived from collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu Linnaeus, 1,758)

Bezerra

Souza

Silva

et al. 2018

Microscopy Res & Technique

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The aim was to describe, through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the ultrastructure of peccaries' fresh and frozen-thawed sperm. For that, semen derived from three mature males was obtained by electroejaculation and evaluated for motility, membrane integrity, membrane functionality, chromatin integrity, and morphology through light microscopy. Samples were frozen using a Tris extender plus egg yolk (20%) and glycerol (6%). Then, fresh and frozen-thawed semen samples were mixed in different sperm pools that were processed for SEM and TEM. Sperm motility, membrane integrity, and functionality were impaired (p < .05) by freezing-thawing procedures, but sperm morphology, and chromatin integrity evaluated by light microscopy were not significantly affected. The SEM revealed that peccaries' sperm presents a flattened head in a paddle format, measuring 6.07 μm in length and 3.84 μm in width, with a vastus acrosome (4.46 μm). Normal tails measure 38.11 μm, being formed by an extensive midpiece with 15.52 μm in length. In frozen-thawed samples, both SEM and TEM provide us information about damage undetected through light microscopy as the presence of vesicles in the acrosome, loose plasma membrane, vacuolized mitochondria, dense fibers disorganized, and decondensed chromatin. In conclusion, we provide the first description of the sperm ultrasctruture in collared peccaries. Moreover, SEM and TEM help us to identify some nanometric damage provoked by freezing-thawing procedures, thus providing valuable information for the improvement of such important protocols used for biobanking formation. K E Y W O R D Sfreezing-thawing, morphology, scanning electron microscopy, semen, Tayassu tajacu, transmission electron microscopy

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Macronutrient composition of milk from two captive African elephant (Loxodonta africana) cows

et al. 2021

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We assayed 31 milk samples collected from two African elephant cows housed at the Indianapolis Zoo across lactation (birth to calf age 973 days) for macronutrient composition (water, fat, protein, sugar, gross energy [GE], ash, calcium, and phosphorus). All assays were performed at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park Nutrition Laboratory, Washington, DC (SNZP) using standard methods developed at SNZP. Milk constituents are expressed on a weight‐per‐weight basis (%) and as a proportion each constituent contributes to milk energy. Calf weights were recorded, and growth rate calculated. The macronutrient composition of the African elephant milk samples was compared to previously published results for Asian elephants using analysis of covariance. African elephant milk is similar to Asian elephant milk, being moderately high in fat and energy and low in sugar. The mean values across lactation (excluding colostrum; n = 28) are 5.6 ± 0.3% crude protein, 3.1 ± 0.3% sugar, 13.0 ± 1.0% fat, and GE of 1.63 ± 0.10 kcal/g. Milk composition did not differ between cows. Milk composition significantly changed over lactation; fat and protein increased, and sugar decreased with calf age, comparable to previously reported data for African and Asian elephant milk. The proportion of milk energy from fat increased and that from sugar decreased over lactation, but the energy from protein was relatively constant. Protein contributed a higher proportion of energy to African elephant milk compared to Asian elephant milk (20.6% vs. 17.0%, p = .001). Despite this, calf growth rate was similar between the species, with the calves in this study gaining about 0.8 kg/day for the first 6 months.

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Successful cryopreservation of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) spermatozoa

Cited by 61 publications

References 42 publications

Effect of pre-freeze semen quality, extender and cryoprotectant on the post-thaw quality of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) semen

Effect of pre-freeze semen quality, extender and cryoprotectant on the post-thaw quality of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) semen

Ultrastructural description of fresh and frozen/thawed sperm derived from collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu Linnaeus, 1,758)

Macronutrient composition of milk from two captive African elephant (Loxodonta africana) cows

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