Embryonic development in rabbits after insemination with spermatozoa stored at 37, 5 or-196 degrees C for various periods.
Rabbit spermatozoa stored at 37 degrees C for 5 hr, 5 degrees C for 5 hr or 5 days, and-196 degrees C for 5 hr, 5 days, or 1 year were used to artificially inseminate does induced to ovulate normal or excess numbers of eggs. Fertility and subsequent embryonic development were examined. Frozen spermatozoa stored for 5 hr fertilized fewer oocytes than those stored for 5 days or longer. Fewer embryos were recovered on Day 6 than on Day 2. Blastocysts were smaller when spermatozoa were stored for 5 days, were frozen or were placed in superovulating does, but no statistically significant differences in the % of fetal survival were found in the groups of normally ovulating does. Embryonic wastage associated with storage of spermatozoa resulted from a reduced fertilization rate and/or increased embryonic mortality before implantation.
D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D005615:Freezing; D007315:Insemination, Artificial; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011817:Rabbits; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D013480:Superovulation; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014021:Tissue Preservation