A systematic approach to multispecies sperm morphometric characterization.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the morphologic variety of sperm heads between several species through a comprehensive set of measurements, some of which are presented here for the first time, and to perform cluster analysis.


METHODS
Fifty images were obtained for each species, preprocessed, normalized and characterized through a series of morphologic measures. All possible 2 x 2 combinations of measurements were assessed in terms of objective (discriminant analysis) and subjective (visual inspection) methods.


RESULTS
The specific potential of each measure and 2 x 2 combinations were identified with respect to 2 main situations: separation between species and separation of alterations within a species, possibly corresponding to anomalies or subpopulations. Several of the measurements led to reasonable separation between species, and some specific measurements allowed the identification of morphologic alterations.


CONCLUSIONS
The potential of relatively more sophisticated measurements and concepts for sperm analysis was corroborated. Although most of the measures considered were observed to allow good separation between species, some of the measurements, such as hydrodynamic coefficients, anterior-posterior and side symmetry, shape factor and first Fourier descriptor, accounted for the identification of secondary clusters within specific species, possibly indicating pathologic alterations or signaling the presence of subpopulations.
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia.
Marcelo Emílio
ME
Beletti
Luciano da Fontoura
Lda F
Costa
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D048429:Cell Size; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004285:Dogs; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology*