Individual variation in sperm cryopreservation in the Blanca-Celtibérica goat breed

Resumen del póster presentado al 12th International Congress of the Spanish Association of Animal Reproduction, celebrado en Alicante del 16 al 18 de octubre de 2014.This study addressed the inter-male variation in the resistance of spermatozoa to the cryopreservation process in the Blanca-Celtibérica goat breed. Semen from six males (age >1.5 years) was collected and cryopreserved. Five replicates were performed. To evaluate sperm cryoresistance, percentage of sperm motility (SM; 0–100%) and sperm quality (SQ; 0–5) parameters were subjectively assessed after collection (AC), and in pre-freezing (PF) and post-thawing (PT) stages. Values of SM and SQ decreased (p ≤ 0.05) through the cryopreservation process. Inter-male variability for SM and SQ were higher (p ≤ 0.05) in PF stage for both parameters (SM standard deviations were 1.79, 15.06 and 3.19% for AC, PF and PT; SQ standard deviations were 0.03, 0.73 and 0.49 for AC, PF and PT). Thus, the major differences in sperm cryoresistance among males were observed in pre-freezing stage and may partly determine the sperm quality observed after thawing. The sperm motility changes that occur prior to freezing could predict the different semen cryoability of goat males.Peer Reviewe