THE USE OF LECTINS TO CHARACTERIZE AND SEPARATE LIVING CANINE SPERMATOZOA - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

Fresh spermatozoa from 3 dogs were analyzed by fluorescein isothiocyan ate (FITC) labeled lectins. The binding of lectins to the sperm membra ne and the capability of the lectins to agglutinate spermatozoa were e stimated semi-quantitatively by observation with either an epifluoresc ence or a phase contrast microscope, respectively. All the lectins tes ted bound to non motile spermatozoa, with Helix pomatia, Pisum sativum and Arachis hypogaea showing intense fluorescence, Triticum vulgare a nd Glycine maxima showing moderate fluorescence, and Phaseolus vulgari s and Phytolacca americana showing low fluorescence. However, Helix po matia and Triticum vulgare also bound to rapid and slow moving spermat ozoa, and were the only 2 lectins that induced sperm agglutination. Th ese results suggest that lectins could be a possible tool for characte rizing and separating spermatozoa with,different rates of motility.