Effect of the pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine

Research (Published online: 23-08-2019)

18. Effect of the pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine

Nidhi P. Raval, Tejas M. Shah, Linz-Buoy George and Chaitanya G. Joshi

Veterinary World, 12(8): 1299-1303

ABSTRACT

Background and Aim: Studies have shown that the pH of the vagina during the course of fertilization may influence the migration of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa and thus leading to skewness in the sex of the offspring. Hence, this study was carried out to check the effect of the pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine (Bos indicus).

Materials and Methods: To check the effect of pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine, we used buffers of various pH ranging from 5.5 to 9.0 for swim-up procedure of sperm sample and collected upper and bottom fraction from the same buffer and checked the abundance of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction using X- and Y-chromosome-specific DNA probe.

Results: The abundance of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa was not differed significantly in either of the fraction collected.

Conclusion: Thus, it appears to be unlikely that an immediate impact of pH on sperm can be a solitary impact on the sex of offspring in bovine.

Keywords: droplet digital polymerase chain reaction, spermatozoa, swim-up.