Large-volume Porcicoll™ preparation.
We have collaborated with Dr. Jane Morrell at SLU (Sweden) on a study testing the suitability of the Porcicoll™ colloid developed at her lab for removing bacteria from pig semen. This study has merited a publication in Theriogenology.
We focused on scaling up the density centrifugation technique on a low-density colloid to the large volumes typical in pig sperm work. The low-density colloid enables recovering most spermatozoa while removing the seminal plasma and medium potentially contaminated with bacteria. This prevents antibiotics supplementation, contributing to the Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals.
Our results were highly positive, enabling the removal of most bacteria and preventing their growth up to seven days of refrigerated storage. Additionally, the use of the low-density colloids (20% and 30% Porcicoll™) seemed to improve sperm quality by themselves, apparently by removing defective spermatozoa or detrimental factors in the collected semen. Moreover, we found a small effect of storage time on sperm DNA damage, but no detrimental effect of the treatments.
The study is part of our ongoing research line “Increasing the reproductive efficiency of pig breeding through the application of advanced techniques for sperm chromatin analysis and selection by colloid.”, supported by the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry and the Education Council of Junta of Castilla y León.
Correlations heatmap and cladogram for the bacterial species found in the samples.
Green Deal
Our results allow to advance towards a better application of reproductive techniques while achieving H2020 objectives regarding the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Reducing antibiotic use is a positive step for the pig industry and society. Besides, we successfully processed large volumes of ejaculate, which is an incremental step towards applying these methods in the pig industry. Indeed, this line of work has enabled us to participate in the H2020 consortium NeoGiANT, through our spin-off Bianor Biotech.
This work was partly funded by two of our projects (RTI2018-095183-B-I00, MCI/AEI/FEDER, EU, and LE023P20, Junta de Castilla y León/Consejería de Educación/FEDER, EU) for studying the boar sperm chromatin. We also thank AIM Ibérica and Topigs-Norsvin España for their support.
Deja un comentario