INFLUÊNCIA SAZONAL SOBRE O PERFIL SEMINAL E CONGELABILIDADE DO SÊMEN DE TOUROS PANTANEIROS

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effect o f t he s eason o f t he y ear o n testicular morphology, fresh and frozen/thawed semen quality from Pantaneiro bulls bred in Brasilia, DF. Six bulls were submitted, once a month for one year, to evaluation of testicular measurements, semen collection using an artificial v agina a nd c ryopreserved w ith m edium c ontaining Tris-based, egg yolk and glycerol. The testicular length and volume were greater (P < 0.05) in June (11.1±0.8 cm; 652.7±138.0 cm3), July (11.0±0.9 cm; 616.4±156.2 cm3), and September (11.8±0.8 cm; 692.4±141.3 cm3) than October (9.4±1.2 cm; 498.5±154.3 cm3) and November (10.3±1.1 cm; 560.0±111.8 cm3). The sperm concentration was greater (P 0.05). In conclusion, Pantaneiro bulls, bred in the Midwest region of Brazil, can be used in natural mating programs in all seasons. Aiming to improve the Brazilian Animal Germplasm Bank with a higher number of samples collected, we suggest that the freezing of the semen is done between June and August, although there will be no losses of semen quality at any time.