The quality of great scallop (Pecten maximus) sperm after thawing

Type Article
Date 2016-04
Language English
Author(s) Suquet Marc1, Gourtay Clemence1, Donval Anne2, Le Goic Nelly2, Quere Claudie3, Malo Florent1, Le Grand Jacqueline1, Ratiskol Dominique1, Mingant Christian1, Fauvel Christian4
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, PFOM Dept, Stn Expt Argenton, UMR 6539, Argenton, France.
2 : IUEM, Lemar, UMR 6539, Technopole Brest Iroise, Plouzane, France.
3 : IFREMER, PFOM Dept, UMR 6539, Technopole Brest Iroise, Plouzane, France.
4 : IFREMER, Marbec, Stn Ifremer, UMR 248, Palavas Les Flots, France.
Source General And Comparative Endocrinology (0016-6480) (Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science), 2016-04 , Vol. 229 , P. 127-131
DOI 10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.02.023
WOS© Times Cited 9
Keyword(s) Pecten maximus, Reproduction, Gamete, Sperm, Cryopreservation
Abstract Most publications devoted to the cryopreservation of mollusc sperm have focused on the definition of technical protocols, avoiding the description of sperm quality after thawing. The present study investigated the effects of cryopreservation on sperm quality in the great scallop. Wild scallop were fished during the natural spawning period and conditioned in the hatchery before use. Sperm samples were obtained after intragonadal injection of serotonin and cryopreserved using a previously published protocol.

Sperm quality was assessed using a panel of four parameters: sperm motility characteristics, using a a computer assisted sperm analysis plugin with Image J, intracellular ATP content using an ATP-Lite kit, sperm integrity, using flow cytometry and sperm morphology, using transmission electron microscopy. For each parameter, fresh (control) and thawed spermatozoa were compared.

A significant decrease of both the percentage of motile spermatozoa (reduction: 75%) and sperm swimming speed (86%) were observed for thawed sperm compared with fresh sperm. The percentage of living spermatozoa, as assessed using flow cytometry, was significantly lower for thawed sperm (72.4 ± 2.5%) compared with fresh sperm (86.4 ± 1.1). However, no significant difference of intracellular sperm ATP content was observed between fresh and thawed sperm. Post thawing, while some spermatozoa showed little or no morphological differences compared with fresh sperm, others had undergone drastic changes, including swelling of the plasma membrane, structural alterations of the chromatin and damage to mitochondria.

In conclusion, the descriptive parameters studied in the present work showed that the quality of thawed great scallop sperm was lower than that of fresh cells but was still sufficient for use in aquaculture programs and sperm cryobanking for this species.
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Suquet Marc, Gourtay Clemence, Donval Anne, Le Goic Nelly, Quere Claudie, Malo Florent, Le Grand Jacqueline, Ratiskol Dominique, Mingant Christian, Fauvel Christian (2016). The quality of great scallop (Pecten maximus) sperm after thawing. General And Comparative Endocrinology, 229, 127-131. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.02.023 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00317/42862/