Abstract
To investigate effect of seeding on post-thaw motility and viability of canine spermatozoa, the semen from male dogs which had been proved to be fertile in the past were frozen and seeded during freezing process. Post-thaw motility and viability of canine sperm which were frozen and seeded were investigated according to different seeding temperatures of $-5^{\circ}C$, $-10^{\circ}C$, or $-l5^{\circ}C$ and also according to different concentration of glycerol of 2%, 5% and 10%. In addition, post-thaw motility of canine sperm frozen by direct freezing in a deep freezer or programmed freezing in a programmed cell freezer was investigated. Post-thaw motility of canine sperm was compared according to different seeding temperatures : The sperm seeded at $-5^{\circ}C$ showed considerably higher post-thaw motility than that of non-seeding, and that seeded at $-10^{\circ}C$, or $-l5^{\circ}C$, respectively, in 2% and 5% glycerol groups on both 2 and 7day after freezing(p<0.05). In 10% concentration of glycerol, the sperm seeded at each seeding temperature showed considerably higher post-thaw motility than that of non-seeding group on day 7 after freezing(p<0.01). Post-thaw viability of canine sperm was compared according to different seeding temperatures : The sperm seeded at $-5^{\circ}$ showed significantly higher post-thaw motility than that of non-seeding, and that seeded at $-10^{\circ}C$, or $-l5^{\circ}C$, in 5% and 10% glycerol groups on day 7 after freezing(p< 0.05). In comparison of post-thaw motility of canine sperm seeded according to different concentration of glycerol, 5% glycerol group and 10% glycerol group showed considerably higher post-thaw motility than 2% glycerol group without difference between those two groups in all seeding temperatures($-5^{\circ}C$, $-10^{\circ}C$ and $-l5^{\circ}C$) on day 2 and 7 after freezing(p<0.01). In comparison of post-thaw viability of canine sperm seeded according to different concentration of glycerol, 5% glycerol group and 10% glycerol group showed the same considerably higher post-thaw viability than 2% glycerol group on each thawing day(p<0.01). The canine sperm frozen and seeded by programmed freezing method showed considerably higher post-thaw motility than that frozen by direct freezing method in all different seeding temperatures($-5^{\circ}C$, $-10^{\circ}C$ and $-l5^{\circ}$). These results indicated that the higher post-thaw motility and viability was obtained in the spermatozoa seeded than that of non-seeding, that among different seeding temperatures of $-5^{\circ}C$, $-10^{\circ}C$ and $-l5^{\circ}C$, the sperm seeded at $-5^{\circ}C$ showed higher post-thaw motility and viability than the other temperatures, also among different concentrations fof glycerol of 2%, 5% and 10%, the sperm frozen and seeded in 5% and 10% concentration of glycerol showed higher post-thaw motility and viability than that in 2% of glycerol, and that the sperm frozen and seeded by programmed freezing method showed higher motility than that by direct freezing method.