Fertility testing of preserved epididymal sperm by microinjection: A model for the rescue and utilization of genetically superior animals.

Background: Epididymal sperm preservation is a simple conservation approach that can help prevent the loss of high genetic quality of farm animals. The chance of loss increases, especially during disease outbreaks or other interruptions to normal reproduction function. Aim: This study looked into the ability of preserved ram epididymal sperm to fertilize oocytes. Due to motility becoming an issue following sperm storage for fertilization, the sperm microinjection known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection approach was employed. Methods: The study was divided into two parts. First, involved the preservation of epididymal sperm at 5°C for 12 days. During preservation, sperm quality parameters namely motility, viability, intact membrane, acrosome, and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are evaluated every three days. For the fertility test in the second experiment, matured oocytes were injected with immotile sperm discovered in the last days of preservation. The presence of pronucleus development following Results: All sperm quality parameters significantly ( Conclusion: In this study, simple preservation of epididymal sperm reduces all sperm quality criteria, particularly motility. Using the microinjection approach preserved sperm which had no motility, still demonstrated its ability to activate and fertilize the oocytes. According to that, this study provides potential approaches and tools for using genetically superior animals that have lost their ability to execute regular fertilization, and also prolong reproduction function.