Search

Aim: To study the effect of preputial washing on bacterial load, preservability and semen quality in Murrah buffalo bulls Materials and Methods: A total of 36 collections of three Murrah buffalo bulls maintained at Artificial Breeding Research Centre, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, were collected at weekly intervals from each bull without preputial washing and latter ejaculates from same bull with preputial washing by infusing normal saline (0.85%), KMnO4 (0.02%) and savlon (2.0%) to first, second and third bull, respectively. The microbial load and semen quality were evaluated during different hours of storage at refrigerated temperature (0, 24 and 48 h) and after thrawing of cryopreserved (at −196°C) semen. Results: The results of preservation of semen at refrigerated temperature showed that bacterial load was markedly lower in ejaculates of bulls subjected to preputial washing. Semen preserved at refrigerator temperature and cryopreserved, the effect of washing solution was significant for individual motility (IM), non-eosiniphilic count, hypo-osmotic swelling reactivity (HOST), total plate count (TPC) and acrosome integrity. KMnO4 was found to be the best in lowering bacterial load, sperm abnormalities and in improving semen quality such as motility, non-eosinophilic count, HOST and acrosome integrity even up to 48 h of preservation and cryopreserved semen. Effect of duration of preservation and stage of cryopreservation was also significant for IM, non-eosiniphilic count, HOST, sperm abnormalities and acrosome integrity. Conclusion: Overall the results suggested that preputial washing with KMnO4 solution improved the semen quality and reduced microbial load of Murrah buffalo bull’s semen preserved at refrigerated temperature and cryopreservation.

In vitro fertility assessment using fluorescent technique is a better predictor of fertility status of bulls as compared to traditional semen quality assessment techniques, therefore, the study was planned to assess in vitro fertility status of bulls based on conventional and fluorescent techniques. Seventy-three ejaculates were collected from 12 Murrah buffalo bulls maintained at Artificial Breeding Research Centre, NDRI, Karnal, India for the experiment and subjected to statistical analysis using SYSTAT. The mean values of ejaculate volume (ml), mass activity, individual motility (%), sperm concentration (millions/ml), live sperm (%), total abnormalities (%), HOST (%) and acrosomal integrity (%) were 2.70 ± 0.28, 2.8 ± 0.14, 63.8 ± 2.16, 1749.7 ± 122.24, 77.3 ± 2.48, 6.2 ± 0.51, 75.1 ± 1.81 and 84.5 ± 2.26, respectively. The repeatability estimates were significant (P<0.05) for ejaculate volume (0.34 ± 0.137), acrosomal integrity (0.29 ± 0.134) and live percentage (0.28 ± 0.133), indicating sufficient bull to bull variation for the parameters. The mean values of seminal attributes of fluorescent based criteria of CMA3 (Chromomycin A3), SYBR-PI and FITC-PNA (fluorescent isothiocynate-conjugated peanut agglutinin) were 5.25 ± 0.41, 67.91 ± 1.24 and 82.00 ± 1.25 percent, respectively. Bulls were ranked on the basis of expected producing ability (EPA) for semen characteristics assessed by conventional and fluorescent criteria. Rank correlations were found to be significant for FITC with most of the parameters evaluated by conventional methods. In conclusion, among the conventional criteria, individual motility (%) revealed ranking of bulls almost similar to that of fluorescent criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field Progeny Testing in Murrah buffalo bulls was initiated in the early 1988 by the Amul Research and Development Association (ARDA) under technical guidance and assistance of National Dairy Development Board, Anand (NDDB). The Murrah buffalo bull calves regularly purchased from breeding tract (Haryana and Punjab), born out of elite buffaloes and male calves of proven sires born through nominated mating were taken as candidate bulls. For baseline information, the milk production data of the registered buffaloes under Surti buffalo bulls Progeny Testing Programme of selected 35 villages of Kheda and Anand districts recorded on monthly intervals in the field along with other necessary reproduction data was utilized to compute the different traits of economic importance. Since the inception of the program, 186 bulls have been put under progeny testing program and 123 bulls were evaluated by daughter average method, out of which 74 buffalo bulls contributed positively in milk production of daughters with predicted difference of 60.04 kg in 305 days that ranged from 3.0 to 178.6 kg between bulls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of vitamin E supplementation in Tris-citric acid yolk glycerol extender on seminal and biochemical parameters of semen at the end of equilibration time (pre freezing stage) and after 24 hours freezing and thawing (post freezing stage) of semen. Significant improvement in progressive sperm motility, live spermatozoa, acrosomal integrity and MDA was observed in semen supplemented with vitamin E during pre freezing and post freezing stages. However, the release of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) did not differ significantly in both the groups. Thus inclusion of vitamin E in the extender prior to extension and freezing has shown improvement in post thaw quality of buffalo bull semen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]