Acetylation and methylation of sperm histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27ac and H3K27me3) are associated with bull fertility.

Epigenetic modifications in histones are crucial for proper sperm physiology, egg activation and reproductive development of males. The objectives of this study were to determine the conservation and interactomes of histone three (H3) and ascertain the expression dynamics of acetylated and methylated H3 lysine 27 (H3K27ac and H3K27me3) in spermatozoa from Holstein bulls with different fertility. Methods in immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the expression dynamics of H3K27ac and H3K27me3 in spermatozoa from 10 bulls with different in vivo fertility. Computational biology methods including Clustal Omega and Cytoscape were performed to determine the evolutionary conservation and interactome of H3. The post-translational modifications (PTM) of H3 (H3K27ac and H3K27me3) had different spatiotemporal dynamics in the sperm head. Intensities of methylation were higher than those of acetylation and inversely correlated between the two fertility groups (p = .0032). The interacting proteins of H3 are involved in critical subcellular processes such as regulation of methylation, nucleosome assembly, regulation of DNA replication and chromatin assembly. These results are significant because they help advance fundamental science and biotechnology of mammalian reproduction.

Parameters of the reproductive tract, spermatogenesis, daily sperm production and major seminal plasma proteins of tropically adapted morada nova rams.

This study describes the reproductive parameters of Morada Nova rams, a breed of hair sheep from Brazil and with unique adaption to tropical environments. At 42 weeks of age, 15 rams were subjected to semen collection and, 1 week later, animals were slaughtered for collection of testes, epididymis and accessory sex glands. We conducted 2-D electrophoresis of seminal plasma proteins and major spots of stained gels were identified by LC-MS/MS. Total RNA was isolated from testis, epididymis and vesicular glands and subjected to qPCR. At slaughter, scrotal circumference and testicular weight were 27.5 ± 0.5 cm and 109.5 ± 6.0 g, respectively. Seminiferous tubule (ST) diameter was 188.3 ± 4.0 µm and each testis contained 1.9 ± 0.1 Sertoli cells (×10(9) ). Each Sertoli cell supported 0.1 ± 0.01 A spermatogonia, 3.0 ± 0.2 pachytene spermatocytes and 7.7 ± 0.5 round spermatids/tubule cross section. Daily sperm production reached 5.6 × 10(6)  cells/g of testis parenchyma. Testis size appeared as indicative of ST diameter and associated with epididymal measurements, as well as with the population of round spermatids and Sertoli cells/testis. Rams with heavier testes had greater daily sperm production and more Sertoli cells/testis. We detected 90.9 ± 9.6 spots per 2-D gel of seminal plasma. Major seminal proteins were identified as ram seminal vesicle proteins at 14 and 22 kDa, representing 16.2% and 12.8% of the total intensity of valid spots in the gels, respectively. Expression of both genes was greater in the vesicular glands as compared to testis and epididymis. Pixel intensity for those proteins in the 2-D gels was significantly correlated with seminal vesicle weight. This is the first description of the basic reproductive aspects of Morada Nova rams, including protein profiles of their seminal plasma. These findings will allow a better understanding of their reproductive physiology.