PubMed1996
The objective of the present experiments was to study some properties of fowl spermatozoa which may play a role in the sperm storage and emptying mechanism of the uterovaginal sperm storage tubules (SST) of the hen. The effects exerted by different amino acids (aspartic acid, Asp; glutamic acid, Glu; gamma-aminobutyric acid, GABA; glycine, Gly) and by the pH of the environment at 24 and 39 degrees C on the motility and agglutination of cock spermatozoa were studied in vitro. The spermatozoa did not show agglutination in the presence of Asp and Glu, and became immobilised if the concentration of Glu or the acidity of the environment was increased. In neutral solutions of GABA and Gly or in a faintly alkaline solution characteristic plait-like conglomerations could be seen. The motility of spermatozoa immobilised by Glu could be restored in a varying degree by the addition of GABA or Gly. At a temperature of 24 degrees C, the spermatozoa became immobilised in a medium of pH 6.0 while showed maximum motility at pH 7.1. At 39 degrees C, the spermatozoa were immobilised at higher pH (6.2) and required a pH value as high as 7.4-7.5 to show the highest motility. Spermatozoa inactivated in an acidic solution could be immediately mobilised by alkalisation of the medium, irrespective of the Ca2+ content of the solution. Thus, Ca2+ was not found to play a role in the reactivation of spermatozoa. Nevertheless, marked differences were observed in the maintenance of sperm motility between solutions either containing or lacking Ca2+. As the concentration changes of the above-mentioned amino acids and the pH changes were found to affect the motility and agglutination of spermatozoa in vitro, they may influence also the regulatory mechanism of the uterovaginal SST during the egg-formation cycle in vivo.