R. Pilip et al., IN-VITRO FERTILIZING CHARACTERISTICS OF BOVINE SPERMATOZOA WITH MULTIPLE NUCLEAR VACUOLES - A CASE-STUDY, Theriogenology, 46(1), 1996, pp. 1-12
A study was designed to determine the in vitro fertilizing characteris
tics of bovine semen with a high percentage of spermatozoa with multip
le nuclear vacuoles. In Experiment 1, a total of 620 oocytes was divid
ed into 2 groups and inseminated with spermatozoa from 1 of 2 differen
t bulls at a concentration of 2x10(5)/ml. After Percoll washes, 73.5+/
-3.0% of spermatozoa from Bull A contained multiple nuclear vacuoles,
while no sperm cells from Bull B contained vacuoles. After 19.5+/-0.5
h of co-incubation of oocytes with spermatozoa, loosely attached sperm
cells were removed by washing, and the oocytes were fixed between 2 p
oly-l-lysine coated glass slides. Mean (+/-SD) percentage of fertiliza
tion was significantly lower (P<0.05) in Bull A (19.7+/-7.0%) than in
Bull B (67.6+/-4.5%). In one-third of the oocytes fertilized by sperma
tozoa from Bull A, sperm head decondensation was incomplete and normal
male pronucleus formation did not occur. All oocytes fertilized by Bu
ll B had normally decondensed sperm heads. Although fewer (P<0.05) spe
rmatozoa from Bull A were bound to the zona pellucida than from Bull B
, the percentage of vacuolated sperm cells bound to the zona pellucida
(73.3+/-7.8%) did not differ from that in the inseminate. The mean nu
mber of sperm cells binding to fertilized oocytes was higher than to u
nfertilized oocytes for both bulls (P<0.05). In Experiment 2, 748 salt
-stored oocytes (zonae) were inseminated with semen from the same 2 bu
lls to determine the ability of spermatozoa to penetrate the zona pell
ucida. The percentage of zonae penetrated by spermatozoa from Bull A (
69.9+/-3.5%; a mean of 2.4+/-2.3 spermatozoa) was lower (P<0.05) than
from Bull B (96.5+/-14.7%; a mean of 11.3+/-9.9). Although the proport
ion of vacuolated sperm cells from Bull A that bound to the zona pellu
cida did not differ from that in the inseminate, the proportion of tho
se penetrating the zona pellucida (52.7%) was lower (P<0.05). In summa
ry, vacuolated sperm cells apparently gained access to the oocyte and
bound to the zona pellucida, but they penetrated the zona pellucida at
a lower rate and apparently did not form normal male pronuclei.