X-Y sperm aneuploidy in 2 cattle (Bos taurus) breeds as determined by dual color fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH).
The present study was undertaken to investigate aneuploidy rates in the sperm populations of 2 cattle (Bos taurus) breeds by using dual color fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with Xcen and Y chromosome-specific painting probes, obtained by chromosome microdissection and DOP-PCR. Frozen semen from 10 Italian Friesian and 10 Italian Brown testing bulls was used for the investigation. For each bull, more than 5,000 sperm were analyzed, for a total of 52,586 and 51,342 sperm cells for the 2 breeds, respectively. The present study revealed - in both breeds - a preponderance of the Y-bearing sperm compared to the X-bearing sperm. Within each breed, a statistically significant variation in the various classes of aneuploidy (XX, YY and XY) was found: differences were found in the Friesian breed among the 3 diploidy classes, and in the Brown breed, among the 3 disomy classes (p < 0.05) as well as among the 3 diploidy classes (p < 0.01). However, the 2 breeds did not differ significantly in the overall mean rates of X-Y aneuploidy (disomy + diploidy) which amounts to 0.162% in the Italian Friesian and 0.142% in the Italian Brown. When meiosis I (MI) and II (MII) errors were compared, statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) were found in the disomy classes and in both breeds, whereas the differences between diploidy classes were not significant. Compared to humans, a lower level of aneuploidy has been found in the domestic species analyzed so far. The present study contributes to the establishment of a baseline level of aneuploidy in the sperm populations of 2 cattle breeds which could be used for monitoring future trends of reproductive health, especially in relation to environmental changes and mutagens.
Nicodemo
D
D
Department of Soil, Plant, Environment and Animal Production Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, Italy.
Pauciullo
A
A
Castello
A
A
Roldan
E
E
Gomendio
M
M
Cosenza
G
G
Peretti
V
V
Perucatti
A
A
Di Meo
G P
GP
Ramunno
L
L
Iannuzzi
L
L
Rubes
J
J
Di Berardino
D
D
D000782:Aneuploidy; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014960:X Chromosome; D014998:Y Chromosome