Ejaculates present their own microbiota, and a link between ejaculates' microbiota and sperm quality and fertility exists. With the development of artificial insemination in animal breeding, ejaculates must be manipulated by diluting them with extenders and storing them at temperatures below body temperature. The effects that these processes have on the original semen microbiota have never been studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChanges in semen microbiota are associated with alterations to sperm quality and fertility. However, the microbiota from most livestock species has not yet been studied. Goats are seasonal breeders, but semen microbiota has never been described in this species, and it is unknown how seasonality affects it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCooling goat sperm insemination doses to 4 °C causes a delay in their delivery. However, chilling these doses during the transportation period could expedite their delivery and the insemination process. In this study, an economical and simple apparatus for chilling goat semen doses in itinere was developed, and the in vitro quality and in vivo fertility of these doses were compared with those chilled by means of a programmable water bath in the laboratory at a rate of -0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLactic acid bacteria (LAB) dominate human vaginal microbiota and inhibit pathogen proliferation. In other mammals, LAB do not dominate vaginal microbiota, however shifts of dominant microorganisms occur during ovarian cycle. The study objectives were to characterize equine vaginal microbiota in mares by culture-dependent and independent methods and to describe its variation in estrus and diestrus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe vaginal microbiota plays an important role in the health of dairy cattle, and it could be manipulated for the prevention and treatment of reproduction-related infections. The present study profiles and compares the vaginal microbiota of healthy dairy heifers during the estrous cycle focusing the results in follicular (estrus) and luteal (diestrus) phases using 16S rRNA sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region. Twenty 13-16-months-old virgin dairy heifers from a single farm were included in this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF