Sperm DNA assays and their relationship to sperm motility and morphology in bulls (Bos Taurus)

The relationship among sperm DNA assays in bulls with different sperm motility and morphology measures has not been reported. The objectives of the present study were to (1) describe Comet assay measures and examine their repeatability (inter- and intra-assay); (2) compare sperm DNA quality assays (i.e., Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay-SCSA; alkaline and neutral Comet assays and Sperm Bos Halomax assay-SBH) in two groups of bulls selected on either greater and lesser sperm motility and morphology (greater compared with lesser); (3) determine the relationship among DNA assays and sperm motility and morphology values. Inter-assay repeatability was greater for the neutral Comet assay as compared to the alkaline Comet assay. Intra-assay repeatability was greater than inter-assay repeatability for both Comet assays. Comet assay dimension measures and percentage tail DNA were the most repeatable for both Comet assays. Among sperm DNA quality assays, only SCSA measures and neutral Comet assay Ghosts (% Ghosts), head diameter and area, and comet area were different between greater and lesser sperm quality groups (P<0.05). The SCSA measures were inversely correlated with neutral Comet head measures (diameter, area, and intensity) and positively with percentage Ghosts (P<0.05). The % Ghosts and COMP-αt were correlated with some measures of sperm morphology and sperm motility. The neutral Comet assay was more appropriate for sperm evaluation than the alkaline Comet assay for distinguishing among groups with different sperm quality.