Electroejaculation and semen buffer evaluation in the microbat Carollia perspicillata
Nicolas Jean Fasel, Fabrice Helfenstein, Samuel Buff & Heinz Richner
| Résumé |
Scientific interests and conservation needs currently stress the
necessity to better understanding bat reproductive biology. In this
study, we present the first, safe, inexpensive, and reliable method
to obtain sperm from a microbat species (Carollia perspicillata) by
electroejaculation. This method revealed to be highly efficient
(100% success rate). We obtained ejaculates composed of two
characteristically different fractions. We compared three buffers
and recommend using an Earle's balanced salt solution as a semen
extender. Earle's balanced salt solution provided significant
repeatable measure of swimming ability (intraclass correlation
coefficient: 0.74, P < 0.01) and proportion of motile sperms
(intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.08, P = 0.01) and allowed
sperm to maintain optimal swimming capacity over time. None of the
buffers could dissolve all the coagulated sperm. Although the
trypsin buffer freed a larger fraction of spermatozoa in the
ejaculate, it impaired swimming ability without improving motility,
viability, and stamina. We thus argue that the sperm population
analyzed with Earle's balanced salt solution is a representative of
the ejaculate. Finally, we found that the mean sperm velocity of C
perspicillata (78.8 μm/s) is lower than that predicted by
regressing sperm velocity on relative testes mass, a proxy of sperm
competition. The question as to whether C perspicillata is an
outsider for sperm velocity, or whether bats evolved yet another
unique mechanism to cope with sperm competition deserves more
investigations. |
| Mots-clés |
Electroejaculation; Microchiroptera; Sperm mobility;Semen extender; Sperm competition |
| Citation | Fasel, N. J., Helfenstein, F., Buff, S., & Richner, H. (2015). Electroejaculation and semen buffer evaluation in the microbat Carollia perspicillata. Theriogenology, 83(5), 904-910. |
| Type | Article de périodique (Anglais) |
| Date de publication | 1-3-2015 |
| Nom du périodique | Theriogenology |
| Volume | 83 |
| Numéro | 5 |
| Pages | 904-910 |
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