Poultry semen cryopreservation technologies

摘要

Several techniques have been developed for the preservation and improvement of genetic resources to maintain genetic diversity. Among those techniques, semen cryopreservation is thought to be the best and successfully applied by dairy and beef industries, but so far, it has not been established in the poultry industry. This is because poultry sperm cells have a unique shape and membrane fluidity, differing from those of mammalian sperm. Also, poultry sperm membranes contain higher quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids than mammalian sperm, and hence may require more antioxidant protection. Due to the peculiarity of poultry sperm cells, commonly used cryoprotectants for cryopreservation have a contraceptive or toxic effect. This renders the fertility of frozen poultry sperm to become highly variable and not reliable enough for use in commercial production or preservation of genetic resources. The average fertility of frozen/thawed poultry sperm ranges between 2-80%. Therefore, this paper reviews the possible reasons for the lower success of poultry sperm cryopreservation.