From petri dishes to politics – a multi-pronged approach is essential for saving endangered species

Roth, Terri L.; Swanson, William F.

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04962-7

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

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“…Biodiversity is in decline across the globe [ 1 ], and conservation efforts continue to seek strategies to mitigate threats and recover threatened species [ 2 ]. Cryopreservation of sperm and the development of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) can be used to preserve the genetic diversity of declining populations [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ] and aid in their recovery [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryopreservation of Sperm from an Endangered Snake with Tests of Post-Thaw Incubation in Caffeine

Sandfoss

Cantrell

Roberts

et al. 2022

Animals

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Cryopreservation of sperm to preserve the genetic diversity of declining populations is a promising technique to aid in the recovery of endangered species such as the Louisiana pinesnake (Pituophis ruthveni). However, this technique has been performed on only a handful of snake species and with limited success. Here, we tested a cryoprotective agent (CPA) mixture containing Lake’s buffer with 10% N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF), 2% methanol, 5% clarified egg yolk, (v/v% final concentration) against 16 other CPA-treatment mixtures. These contained either Lake’s buffer or TEST egg yolk buffer as the base diluent with a penetrating or non-penetrating CPA on the post-thaw recovery of sperm motility and viability. We also investigated the effect of post-thaw incubation treatment in TL HEPES supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (H10) alone or with caffeine on post-thaw motility parameters. Sperm from 16 Louisiana pinesnakes was cryopreserved, and the effectiveness of the CPA treatment mixtures and post-thaw treatments was determined based on measurements of sperm motility and viability. Sperm cryopreservation significantly reduced initial post-thaw sperm quality for all of the extender treatments. Viability of sperm was best maintained when cryopreserved in an CPA treatment mixture containing Lake’s buffer with 10% DMF, 2% methanol, and 5% clarified egg yolk with the addition of 5 mg/mL bovine serum albumin (BSA). For several extender mixtures a similar percent of post-thaw motility was observed, but no forward motility returned in any post-thaw samples prior to incubation in dilution treatments. Following incubation in both post-thaw treatments, the percent of forward motility and the index of forward progressive movement improved significantly. Post-thaw dilution with H10 containing caffeine improved motility parameters over H10 alone, suggesting further investigation of post-thaw treatment in caffeine could be beneficial. Although, cryopreservation of sperm from the Louisiana pinesnake continues to present a challenge, post-thaw dilution and the addition of BSA to CPA mixtures provides areas for improving cryopreservation methods for this endangered species.

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