Seminal characterization and cryopreservation of semen from Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum (Linnaeus, 1766)

Abstract

Fish farming in Brazil has shown rapid development and to sustain this growth, especially in relation to those using intensive or super intensive farming systems, there is a need to invest in production technologies. One of the technologies that has been shown to be of great importance in the area of reproduction and in animal breeding programs is the cryopreservation of gametes and the formation of gene banks. The species Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum is a fish that has a high commercial and environmental value, and its populations are being affected by environmental changes and the exploitation of natural stocks and the introduction of hybrids in rivers. In this sense, this project aims at a deep study on the seminal characteristics of P. fasciatum that is the basis for the development of an effective protocol for the maintenance, dilution and cryopreservation of the species semen, thus creating the bases for the formation of a bank of germplasm of P. fasciatum. In order to achieve this goal, the following specific objectives were outlined: Determine the seminal characteristics regarding the physico-chemical properties of the seminal fluid (pH, osmolarity), sperm concentration and motility, duration of sperm motility, volume and seminal color; determine the biochemical characteristics of seminal plasma; identify suitable diluting solutions that maintain semen characteristics; verify the membrane integrity characteristic of sperm cells; identify the possible morphological changes of the cells submitted to the cryopreservation process; determine if the freezing and thawing protocols affect the DNA integrity of sperm; evaluate the functionality of the mitochondria after the cryopreservation process; to determine the degree of fertility of the post-thaw cryopreserved semen of Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum. (AU)