An efficient method of guinea fowl sperm cryopreservation
Seigneurin, F. | Grasseau, I. | Chapuis, H. | Blesbois, E.
France is the only country that practices pedigree selection of guinea fowl for meat production. The increasing risk of line extinction for sanitary or breeding failure reasons makes clear the need for an efficient method of reproductive cell cryopreservation in this species. However, an efficient method of guinea fowl sperm freezing in secured packaging is still lacking. The aim of the present study was to develop such a method. Based on results previously obtained in chickens, different cryoprotectants and freezing/thawing processes were tested and then adapted to guinea fowl. Semen quality was measured by semen viability evaluation and then by fertility measured after intravaginal artificial insemination. The best results (70% fertility with frozen-thawed sperm) were obtained by the use of the permeant cryoprotectant agents dimethyl formamide combined with a freezing rate of 30°C/min. The initial insemination frequency also affected the fertility results: 2 consecutive days of inseminations were needed in the first week to ensure enough filling of the utero-vaginal glands of the guinea fowl hen and thus to get successive fertile eggs. Thereafter, a 2-wk insemination frequency was sufficient. This new method, combining biophysical (cryoprotectant agents, freeze/thaw rate) and zootechnical (artificial insemination frequency) features, is the first cryopreservation method successfully developed in secured packaging for guinea fowl sperm. This method is now available for the practice of gene bank conservation and male reproductive management.
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