Comparative Silver Staining Patterns of Water Buffalo, Goat, and Pig Spermatozoa

Abstract

from river and swamp water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), goat, and pig were stained using a silver nitrate procedure and examined under bright field optics. The silver nitrate differentiated many detailed morphologic features of the head, midpiece, and tail of spermatozoa between the species studied. Acrosomal integrity due to sperm injury or aging and various sperm abnormalities were also clearly identified by silver nitrate. Silver staining patterns revealed species-specific and strain-specific differences, particularly of the sperm head. The biochemical basis of silver staining has been attributed to the presence of sulphydryl and disulphide-rich proteins. The technique is relatively inexpensive, rapid, and repeatable and may be useful for biological research and evaluation of semen for artificial insemination.

Use of Silver Nitrate for the Assessment of Sperm Measurements in Selected Farm and Free-Living Animal Species

“…The use of this technique helps to reveal more details in the morphological structure of spermatozoa than the methods using acidic dyes (1). Additionally, this method makes it possible to clearly observe differences in the integrity of the acrosome (thanks to the possibility of observing numerous details in its structure), which can result from damage, ageing processes, or various kinds of semen anomalies (4). As regards the standard semen assessment, there is a perceptible lack of clearly formulated conventional semen parameters that would allow an effective evaluation of fertilisation.…”

“…It can be used for the assessment of fresh spermatozoa from a smear and fixed sample. Various authors have concluded that it can be used in biological studies and assessments of semen for artificial insemination (1,4). It can be assumed that the use of the technique in semen analyses can provide detailed information concerning the morphological structure and morphometric dimensions of spermatozoa, as these aspects are gaining more importance in studies on fertility and preservation techniques for semen to be used for artificial insemination.…”

“…This shows that sperm nucleus chromatin has a different composition in these two regions, as the rear cap contains remnants of acidic proteins and nucleoli, which positively react with silver salts (1). The biochemical conditioning of AgNO3 staining is also ascribed to the presence of sulhydryl (thiolic) proteins and disulphide bond-rich proteins of sperm chromatin (4). Dyes routinely used in assessments of farm animal semen morphology are usually acidic, whereas silver nitrate is an alkaline pigment.…”

Extractions reveal specific argentophilic proteins in rat and bull sperm heads

“…Silver-stainability of cytoplasmic structures, including the nuclear and acrosomal ring and the postacrosoma1 sheath, has been described in spermatids of several mammalian species (Gresson and Zlotnik, 1945;Elder and Hsu, 1982;Czaker, 1985b,c;Sousa and Azevedo, 1992) and in a species-specific pattern in mature spermatozoa (Elder and Hsu, 1981;Bongso, 1983;Flaherty, 1987;Curry et al, 1989;Van-der-Horst et al, 1991). The physical and biochemical properties of the argentophilic substance at different stages of sperm development have, however, yet to be ascertained.…”

“…Postmeiotically, silver-stainable nucleolar substance has been shown to abolish after prophase pachytene, reappear in the first stages of spermiogenesis, but to disappear once more during the elongation phase (Hofgartner et al, 1979;Ironside and 1979; Schmid et al, 1982, 1983, Mirre and Knibiehler, 1985Lunghi et al, 1987;Dadoune et al, 1991).…”