The motility of the semen samples obtained from these bulls was evaluated and this activity is assumed to be the first actual practice of fertility evaluation in the US ( Hopper, 2014). The need to examine fertility of the bull in North America emerged in 1949 to identify consequences of snowstorm happened in the Rocky Mountain states ( Hopper, 2014). Many studies have been conducted over recent decades to uncover the effects of semen quality parameters on sire fertility. Therefore, exploring critical aspects of male fertility will shed light on the infertility secrets and can have positive impacts on the AI protocols. These substantial differences in fertility between individual bulls cause large reproductive losses since semen one bull can be used to inseminate hundreds of thousands of cows ( Kastelic, 2013). Although bulls produce large amounts of sperm with normal morphology and motility, some animals may still suffer from infertility or subfertility ( Memili et al., 2012). A limiting factor for the adoption of AI for most beef cattle producers, besides labor and costs, is the low likelihood of pregnancy at the first insemination ( Moorey and Biase, 2020).īull fertility is important for the overall cattle operation because a single ejaculate from a bull distributed by breeding companies can be used to inseminate thousands of cows around the world ( Braundmeier and Miller, 2001). Despite the increased adoption of estrus synchronization and artificial insemination (AI) in the beef cattle industry, the prevalence of these biotechnologies in the meat industry is still extremely low, especially when compared to the dairy industry, which reports 89.3% of all operations using some methods of artificial insemination ( USDA, 2018). Agriculture industry has been paying a great attention to optimize environmental and management conditions for female fertility through the reproductive biotechnologies (artificial insemination, in vitro embryo production and embryo transfer), estrus synchronization protocols, and various feed additives ( Butler et al., 2019). Fertility is influenced by a number of factors including genetics, epigenetics, environment, and management ( Parisi et al., 2014). ![]() Reproductive losses cause approximately $1 billion economic loss in cattle industry each year in the US ( Bellows et al., 2002) and approximately 33% of the cows are removed from the beef herd due to reproductive failures ( USDA, 2010).įertility, the competency of sperm to fertilize and activate the egg to maintain embryo development, has great economic impact on agri-food industry ( Abdollahi-Arpanahi et al., 2017). Reproductive inefficiency is one of the limiting factors for the beef cattle industry because the profitability of a cow-calf operation is linked to the maintenance of the lifetime reproductive status ( Moorey and Biase, 2020). With limitations on natural sources in the world, the need for increasing efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of the food production methods becomes highly important to meet ever-increasing food demand. There is an urgent need to increase the efficiency and sustainability of animal food production in the face of an ever-increasing world population ( United Nations, 2017). This information will help uncover the underlying reasons for idiopathic subfertility. This review provides a better understanding of the molecular signatures of viable and fertile sperm cells and their potential to be used as fertility biomarkers. Potential roles of functional genomics (proteome, small noncoding RNAs, lipidome, metabolome) on determining male fertility and its potential as a fertility biomarker are discussed. The present review focuses on molecular and functional signatures of bull sperm associated with fertility. Since fertility is a complex trait influenced by a number of factors including genetics, epigenetics, and environment, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive methodological approach to clarify uncertainty in male subfertility. Although there are several traditional methods to estimate bull fertility, such methods are not sufficient to explain and accurately predict the subfertility of individual bulls. This causes major economic losses in the cattle industry because using artificial insemination, semen from one single bull can be used to inseminate hundreds of thousands of cows. Even though bulls produce ample amounts of sperm with normal parameters, some bulls may still suffer from subpar fertility. Prediction of bull fertility is critical for the sustainability of both dairy and beef cattle production.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |