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Effect of pH on the Life-Span and Metabolism of Bovine Sperm Kept at Room Temperatures^{1, 2,}

Department of Biology

I. D. Porterfield and R. S. Dunbar, Jr.

Department of Dairy Husbandry West Virginia University, Morgantown

ABSTRACT

The oxygen consumption, lactic acid production, motility, pH, and survival rate of bovine spermatozoa suspended in coconut milk diluent: (1) CMC, consisting of a 1:1 mixture of boiled coconut milk and a 4.32% solution of sodium citrate, and (2) CMCC, consisting of CMC, which contained 100 mg. % calcium carbonate, were measured after 3, 76, and 150 hr. of storage at room temperatures. With the progression of time, lactic acid accumulated, causing a gradual decline in metabolic activity which was significantly correlated with the increased hydrogen ion concentration. In a pH range of 5.50–5.80, the sperm appeared to be maximally inhibited, but sustained a comparatively insignificant loss of viability. Resuspending the auto-inhibited spermatozoa in fresh, relatively alkaline coconut milk diluents produced an appreciable resumption of metabolic activity after six days of room temperature storage. The evidence strongly suggests that reversible acid inhibition can serve as a means of extending the life-span of sperm for several days at room temperatures.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, as Scientific Paper No. 564.

² This study was made in part with grant-in-aid funds provided by the Minnesota-Wisconsin Bull Studs, Shawano, Wisconsin, and the National Association of Artificial Breeders, Columbia, Missouri.

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