Storage Conditions of Sperm Samples and Gametic Characterization by Sperm Head Morphometry in Drones (<i>Apis mellifera</i>)
2025
Milagros Cristina Esteso | Adolfo Toledano-Díaz | Cristina Castaño | Mariano Higes | Raquel Martín-Hernández | Agustin López-Goya | Pilar De la Rúa | Belén Martínez-Madrid | Julián Santiago-Moreno
The present study aimed to evaluate an optimal method to transport and store drone sperm samples, as well as to characterize drone spermatozoa through sperm head morphometry. A total of 291 mature drones were used. We performed three experiments. In a first experiment, sperm variables were assessed under different incubation conditions (5 °C, 15 °C, and 37 °C with 5% CO<sub>2</sub>). Results showed that sperm viability was optimally maintained at 15 °C (<i>p</i> ˂ 0.05). In the second experiment, the supplementation of extender with catalase (200 UI) improved (<i>p</i> ˂ 0.05) the sperm viability and motility during liquid storage at different incubation times. Finally, a morphometric analysis of sperm head was made: length 5.13 µm, width 0.85 µm, area 3.78 µm<sup>2</sup>, perimeter 15.01 µm, acrosome length 3.50 µm. The variability in sperm head morphometry was calculated by coefficients of variation (CV) within- and between-drones. The CV within-drone was higher than the CV between-drones for all morphometric parameters regardless of hive origin, indicating a high degree of sperm pleomorphism.
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