title: Sperm superoxide dismutase is associated with bull fertility.
abstract: Decreasing mammalian fertility and sperm quality have created an urgent need to find effective methods to distinguish non-viable from viable fertilising spermatozoa. The aims of the present study were to evaluate expression levels of ß-tubulin 2C (TUBB2C), heat shock protein 10 (HSP10), hexokinase 1 (HXK1) and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) in spermatozoa from Holstein bulls with varying fertility using western blotting and to analyse the biological networks of these key sperm proteins using a bioinformatics software (Metacore; Thomson-Reuters, Philadelphia, PA, USA). The rationales behind this study were that the sperm proteins play crucial roles in fertilisation and early embryonic development in mammals and ascertaining the biological networks of the proteins helps us better understand sperm physiology and early mammalian development. The results showed that expression of SOD1 was higher in spermatozoa from high fertility bulls (P < 0.05) and that SOD1 is the best protein to diagnose bulls based on the fertility index (P < 0.05). Using Metacore analysis, we identified an SOD1 network with pathways and linkages with other relevant molecules. We concluded that SOD1 sperm expression is associated with in vivo bull fertility. The findings are important because they illuminate molecular and cellular determinants of sperm viability and the identified protein markers can be used to determine bull fertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, 4025 Wise Center, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Kamilah E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, 4025 Wise Center, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.|Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, 60355-970, Brazil.|Present address: Department of Animal Production - Animal Sciences Institute, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRRJ, Seropédica-RJ, 23890-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Tougaloo College, Department of Biology, 500 W County Line Rd, Tougaloo, MS 39174, USA.
authors.forename: Bettye Sue
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Hennington
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, 4025 Wise Center, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Aruna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Govindaraju
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, 665 George Perry Street, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Sciences, Mississippi State University, 240 Wise Center Drive, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University, 32 Creelman Street, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.affiliation: Alta Genetics, N8350 High Road, Watertown, WI 53094, USA.
authors.forename: Einko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Topper
authors.affiliation: Alta Genetics, N8350 High Road, Watertown, WI 53094, USA.|Present address: Department of Reproduction and Artificial Insemination, Selcuk University, Konya, 42030, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, 60355-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Arlindo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, 4025 Wise Center, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.|Corresponding author. Email: em149@ads.msstate.edu.
authors.forename: Erdogan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Memili
keywords: protein; reproduction; semen