The project ‘Conservation of Biodiversity in Italian Poultry Breeds’ (TuBAvI), MIPAAFT PSRN 2017–2020, was dedicated to the safeguard, conservation and improvement of Italian poultry genetic resources. The planning and implementation of the Sperm Italian Cryobank of Local Poultry Breeds was an important task within TuBAvI project and semen doses of chicken and turkey breeds were stored in 2020. Adult Bionda Piemontese (BP; n = 25) and Bianca di Saluzzo (BS; n = 18) roosters were housed at the Poultry Unit, Animal Production Centre, University of Milan (Lodi, Italy). After a semen collection training period, semen donors were selected and semen doses frozen in liquid nitrogen. Each day of collection, quantitative (volume, concentration) and qualitative (viability, motility, progressive motility, kinetic parameters) sperm parameters were measured. Semen doses were frozen according to the procedure developed for the Gallus gallus species in the previous years of the project and reported in the SOP of the Cryobank. In brief, semen was diluted in two different steps to 1 billion sperm/mL with Lake pre-freezing medium containing 2% N-methylacetamide final concentration, equilibrated at 5 °C for 1 min, loaded into 0.25 mL French straws, frozen for 10 min over a nitrogen bath at 3 cm of height and stored in liquid nitrogen at −196 ° C in cryogenic tank. The straws were thawed at 5 °C for 100 s and sperm quality was assessed. In total, 7 BP roosters and 6 BS roosters were selected as donors. The mean volume and sperm concentration recorded in fresh ejaculates of BP and BS were 0.25 ± 0.17 mL and 3.77 ± 0.76 billion sperm/mL, and 0.33 ± 0.11 mL and 2.89 ± 0.62 billion sperm/mL respectively. Semen quality of fresh samples was significantly different between breeds. Higher values in sperm viability and motility were found in BP compared to BS semen, being viability 84.2% vs. 49% and motility 86.8% vs. 45.1%. As expected, a general significant decrease in sperm quality occurred after the freezing- thawing process and differences in sperm quality between breeds were no more present after thawing. The overall mean viability and motility values recorded after thawing were 16% and 17%, respectively. To date, the doses of frozen semen stored in the Italian Sperm Cryobank are 32 straws of BS and 67 straws of BP. A programme to store semen doses from further Italian poultry breeds was planned and will be implemented from 2021 to 2023.
Semen cryopreservation for ex situ management of genetic diversity in chicken: creation of the Italian Avian Cryobank
DI IORIO M.;RUSCO G.;IAFFALDANO N.;
2021-01-01
Abstract
The project ‘Conservation of Biodiversity in Italian Poultry Breeds’ (TuBAvI), MIPAAFT PSRN 2017–2020, was dedicated to the safeguard, conservation and improvement of Italian poultry genetic resources. The planning and implementation of the Sperm Italian Cryobank of Local Poultry Breeds was an important task within TuBAvI project and semen doses of chicken and turkey breeds were stored in 2020. Adult Bionda Piemontese (BP; n = 25) and Bianca di Saluzzo (BS; n = 18) roosters were housed at the Poultry Unit, Animal Production Centre, University of Milan (Lodi, Italy). After a semen collection training period, semen donors were selected and semen doses frozen in liquid nitrogen. Each day of collection, quantitative (volume, concentration) and qualitative (viability, motility, progressive motility, kinetic parameters) sperm parameters were measured. Semen doses were frozen according to the procedure developed for the Gallus gallus species in the previous years of the project and reported in the SOP of the Cryobank. In brief, semen was diluted in two different steps to 1 billion sperm/mL with Lake pre-freezing medium containing 2% N-methylacetamide final concentration, equilibrated at 5 °C for 1 min, loaded into 0.25 mL French straws, frozen for 10 min over a nitrogen bath at 3 cm of height and stored in liquid nitrogen at −196 ° C in cryogenic tank. The straws were thawed at 5 °C for 100 s and sperm quality was assessed. In total, 7 BP roosters and 6 BS roosters were selected as donors. The mean volume and sperm concentration recorded in fresh ejaculates of BP and BS were 0.25 ± 0.17 mL and 3.77 ± 0.76 billion sperm/mL, and 0.33 ± 0.11 mL and 2.89 ± 0.62 billion sperm/mL respectively. Semen quality of fresh samples was significantly different between breeds. Higher values in sperm viability and motility were found in BP compared to BS semen, being viability 84.2% vs. 49% and motility 86.8% vs. 45.1%. As expected, a general significant decrease in sperm quality occurred after the freezing- thawing process and differences in sperm quality between breeds were no more present after thawing. The overall mean viability and motility values recorded after thawing were 16% and 17%, respectively. To date, the doses of frozen semen stored in the Italian Sperm Cryobank are 32 straws of BS and 67 straws of BP. A programme to store semen doses from further Italian poultry breeds was planned and will be implemented from 2021 to 2023.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
