title: Will AI in pigs become more efficient?
abstract: AI is commercially applied worldwide to breed pigs, yielding fertility outcomes similar to those of natural mating. However, it is not fully efficient, as only liquid-stored semen is used, with a single boar inseminating about 2000 sows yearly. The use of liquid semen, moreover, constrains international trade and slows genetic improvement. Research efforts, reviewed hereby, are underway to reverse this inefficient scenario. Special attention is paid to studies intended to decrease the number of sperm used per pregnant sow, facilitating the practical use of sexed frozen-thawed semen in swine commercial insemination programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Animal Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: roca@um.es.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roca
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Animal Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Parrilla
authors.affiliation: R&D Department of AIM iberica, Topigs Norsvin, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bolarin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Animal Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKE), Linköping University (LiU), Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Martinez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012662:Semen Preservation / Q000662:veterinary; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Fixed-time AI; Frozen-thawed semen; Seminal plasma; Sexed sperm; Swine