PUBLICATION
Zebrafish reproduction: revisiting in vitro fertilization to increase sperm cryopreservation success
- Authors
- Hagedorn, M., and Carter, V.L.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-110629-32
- Date
- 2011
- Source
- PLoS One 6(6): e21059 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Hagedorn, Mary
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Cryopreservation*
- Female
- Fertilization in Vitro*
- Male
- Sperm Motility
- Spermatozoa/cytology*
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 21698162 Full text @ PLoS One
Citation
Hagedorn, M., and Carter, V.L. (2011) Zebrafish reproduction: revisiting in vitro fertilization to increase sperm cryopreservation success. PLoS One. 6(6):e21059.
Abstract
Although conventional cryopreservation is a proven method for long-term, safe storage of genetic material, protocols used by the zebrafish community are not standardized and yield inconsistent results, thereby putting the security of many genotypes in individual laboratories and stock centers at risk. An important challenge for a successful zebrafish sperm cryopreservation program is the large variability in the post-thaw in vitro fertilization success (0 to 80%). But how much of this variability was due to the reproductive traits of the in vitro fertilization process, and not due to the cryopreservation process? These experiments only assessed the in vitro process with fresh sperm, but yielded the basic metrics needed for successful in vitro fertilization using cryopreserved sperm, as well. We analyzed the reproductive traits for zebrafish males with a strict body condition range. It did not correlate with sperm volume, or motility (P>0.05), but it did correlate with sperm concentration. Younger males produced more concentrated sperm (P<0.05). To minimize the wastage of sperm during the in vitro fertilization process, 106 cells/ml was the minimum sperm concentration needed to achieve an in vitro fertilization success of e 70%. During the in vitro process, pooling sperm did not reduce fertilization success (P>0.05), but pooling eggs reduced it by approximately 30 to 50% (P<0.05). This reduction in fertilization success was due not to the pooling of the females' eggs, but to the type of tools used to handle the eggs. Recommendations to enhance the in vitro process for zebrafish include: 1) using males of a body condition closer to 1.5 for maximal sperm concentration; 2) minimizing sperm wastage by using a working sperm concentration of 106 motile cells/ml for in vitro fertilization; and 3) never using metal or sharp-edged tools to handle eggs prior to fertilization.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping