Polymorphisms in luteinizing hormone receptor and hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone genes and their effects on sperm quality traits in Chinese Holstein bulls.

Genes of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis play a key role in male reproductive performance. This study evaluated the polymorphisms of luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) and hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) genes and their effects on sperm quality traits including semen volume per ejaculate (VOL), sperm density (SD), fresh sperm motility (FSM), thawed sperm motility (TSM), acrosome integrity rate (AIR), and abnormal sperm rate (ASR) collected from 205 Chinese Hostein bulls. The study bulls consisted of 205 mature Chinese Holstein, 27 Simmental, 28 Charolais, and 14 German yellow cattle. One single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (A883G) in exon 2 of GnRH and two SNPs (A51703G and G51656T) in intron 9 of LHR were identified in 274 bulls. Analysis of variance in 205 Chinese Holstein bulls showed that age had significant effect on both SD and FSM (P < 0.01), and ASR (P < 0.05). With regards to genotype and its interaction with age, only the SNP of G51656T in LHR gene had significant effect on SD (P < 0.05, P < 0.01; respectively). The association result showed that bulls with AG genotype had higher FSM than bulls with AA and GG genotype in LHR at 51,703 locus (P < 0.10), and bulls with GG genotype had higher SD than bulls with TT genotype in LHR at G51656T locus (P < 0.10). Phenotypic correlation among the traits revealed that significant negative correlations were observed between ASR and AIR (r = -0.736, P < 0.01), ASR and AIR (r = -0.500, P < 0.01). There were moderate positive correlations between VOL and SD (r = 0.422, P < 0.01), as well as FSM (r = 0.411, P < 0.01). In conclusion, LHR may be a potential marker for sperm quality of SD and FSM.

Polymorphisms in follicle stimulation hormone receptor, inhibin alpha, inhibin bata A, and prolactin genes, and their association with sperm quality in Chinese Holstein bulls.

Candidate genes follicle stimulation hormone receptor (FSHR), inhibin alpha (INHA), inhibin bata A (INHBA) and prolactin (PRL) were investigated for their association with sperm quality traits of semen volume per ejaculate (VOL), sperm concentration (SCON), motility (MOT), sperm motility in frozen semen (FMOT), acrosome integrity rate (AIR) and abnormal sperm rate (ASR) in a total of 123 normal mature Holstein bulls. Three reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of FSHR A-234500T (rs43676359), IHNA A192G (rs41257116), and IHNBA C7639T (rs43408735), and 3 novel SNPs (G7550A, C7661T, and T8370C) in exons 4 and 5 of bovine PRL gene (NC 007324) were analyzed. Analysis of variance revealed that FSHR A-234500T and INHBA C7639T polymorphisms significantly associated with VOL (P<0.05) and SCON (P<0.05), and the polymorphism of INHBA C7639T also had significant effects on MOT (P<0.05). Furthermore, the INHA A192G polymorphism significantly associated with AIR (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between the polymorphisms of PRL gene and sperm quality traits.