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The effect of selenium supplementation on fresh and frozen ram semen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

Jennifer M.L. Anderson
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture and Forest Science, University College North Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL571HU, U.K.
R.F.E. Axford
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture and Forest Science, University College North Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL571HU, U.K.
I. Ap Dewi
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture and Forest Science, University College North Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL571HU, U.K.
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Extract

Previous research conducted on bulls, rats and man have shown that selenium-deficient animals produce less viable semen than animals of an adequate status, because the tail of the spermatozoa is a seleno-flagellate (Slaweta et al., 1988). Furthermore, the fertilising ability of ram spermatozoa is reduced in liquid nitrogen as the semen quality is affected by osmolality and the freezing and thawing process (Colas and Guerin, 1981). In a small experiment, the effect of selenium supplementation on low-selenium rams was tested to ascertain the quality and viability of fresh ram semen and the post-thaw recovery and fertilising ability of frozen semen.

Type
Sheep
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1996

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Footnotes

*

Present Address: Department of Grassland and Ruminant Science, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr, KA6 5HW, U.K.

References

Colas, G. and Guerin, Y. 1981. A new method for thawing frozen ram semen. Theriogenology 16:623630.10.1016/0093-691X(81)90024-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slaweta, R., Wasowicz, W. and Laskowska, T. 1988. Selenium content, glutathione peroxidase activity and lipid peroxide level in fresh bull semen and its relationship to motility of spermatozoa after freezing and thawing. Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Physiology, Pathology and Clinical Veterinary Medicine 35:455460.10.1111/j.1439-0442.1988.tb00058.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar