APPLICATION OF A LIQUID-SCINTILLATION TECHNIQUE TO THE STUDY OF AEROBIC 14CO2 PRODUCTION FROM GLUCOSE AND FRUCTOSE BY BOAR, RAM AND BULL SPERMATOZOA

Abstract

A technique which depends on absorbing C14O2 on paper strips containing small amounts of KOH, and "counting" the strips directly in a liquid-scintillation system, has been applied to studies on spermatozoal metabolism. A small quantity of uniformly-labelled [C14]-glucose or [C14] -fructose has been added to washed spermatozoal suspensions which already contained non-labelled glucose or fructose and the C14O2 production assessed at the end of a 1 hr. incubation period in air atmosphere, at 38[degree] C. Boar spermatozoa, like those of ram, bull and man, have been shown to utilize glucose preferentially if presented with a mixture of these 2 sugars.