HEPARIN BINDING PROTEIN IN SEMEN OF BUFFALO BULL MIGHT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BETTER SEMEN FREEZABILITY AND SUBSEQUENT FERTILITY

Abstract

The present study determined the concentration of purified heparin binding proteins (HBP) in frozen-thawed spermatozoa of buffalo bulls and established the relationship of HBP with semen characteristics and fertility. About 50 frozen semen straws of same ejaculate per buffalo bull (n=30 bulls) were used to establish purified HBP concentrations in frozen-thawed spermatozoa extracts. On the basis of HBP, all the bulls were grouped as high fertility (HFB, >0.3 mg/109 sperms; n=15) or low fertility (LFB, <0.3 mg/109 sperms; n=15) bulls. The frozenthawed semen was evaluated for % acrosome reaction, HOST, spermatozoa viability and motility, as well as first service conception rate (FSCR). The results revealed that purified HBP concentration and semen characteristics like % acrosome reaction, motility and FSCR were higher (p<0.05) in HFB than in LFB. In conclusion, the higher concentrations of HBP in buffalo bulls might be responsible for their better semen quality and fertility.