REVERSIBLE INACTIVATION AND AGGLUTINATION OF FOWL AND BULL SPERMATOZOA UNDER ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS

Abstract

Microscopic observations of fowl and bull spermatozoa in thin flat cells at rest showed that they inactivated themselves after time intervals that were inversely related to the "amount of motility" of the suspension and directly related to the oxygen and sugar concentrations in the medium. Aeration restored full activity immediately. It was confirmed that motility of fowl and bull spermatozoa is aerobic obligatory in the absence of a reducing sugar in the medium. Under anaerobic conditions motility was maintained when a reducing sugar was available. In a thin layer adjacent to the air-liquid interface, motility was maintained by diffusion of oxygen from the air into the suspension, forming distinct zones of quiescence and motility with a sharp boundary between them. The width of the motile zone was found to be in good agreement with theoretical values calculated on the assumptions of constant respiratory rate, independent of oxygen concentration, and of zero oxygen concentration at the boundary. Inactivation of fowl spermatozoa was accompanied by agglutination in the shape of plait-like "ropes" which formed a network throughout the suspension. The agglutinates were dispersed on mixing and reactivation of the spermatozoa. Inactivation of bull spermatozoa was not accompanied by agglutination of this type. Microscopic observations of sperm motility and measurement of times of inactivation, in thin flat glass cells, can be used to determine the respiratory rate, anaerobic glycolysis and motility of spermatozoa in one operation. Carbon dioxide was found to inactivate fowl spermatozoa reversibly.