¹Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA
²Department of Animal Genetics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kastamonu University, TR-37150 Kastamonu - TURKEY
³Department of Basic Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS USA
⁴Alta Genetics, Inc. Watertown, WI, USA
⁵Department of Artificial Insemination and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, Selcuk University, TR-42130 Konya - TURKEY DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2021.25653 The objective of this study was to ascertain sperm population and cellular characteristics as well as total antioxidant capacity in spermatozoa from Holstein bulls with Good (11 bulls) and Poor (5 bulls) cryotolerance. Post-thaw sperm kinetics were evaluated using CASA, membrane integrity was assessed via HOS test, and DNA fragmentation was measured using the HaloSperm kit. Data were analyzed using principal component analysis. The spermatozoa from Good bulls had a higher number of cells with intact membranes (P=0.029), non-fragmented DNA (P=0.018), and post-thaw viability (P<0.001) compared to sperm cells from Poor cryotolerance bulls. Sperm cells from Good bulls also had a faster average path velocity (P=0.017) and straight-line velocity (P=0.036), along with a greater distance average path (P=0.006) and distance straight line (P=0.011). However, total antioxidant capacity, number of live cells, and other kinetic parameters between spermatozoa from Good and Poor groups were not diff erent. There is no one specific sperm function variable alone that can accurately predict cryotolerance of bull spermatozoa, and thus, a combination of sperm cell attributes and kinematics needs to be utilized by the AI industry in diff erentiating between freezability of spermatozoa between bulls. Keywords : Sperm cryotolerance, Sperm freezability, Sperm parameters