Electrophoretic profile of sperm membrane proteins and correlation with fresh semen characteristics in Assam Hill goat

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study the electrophoretic profile of sperm membrane proteins in Assam Hill goat (AHG) bucks and their correlation with fresh semen characteristics. Ejaculates (64) consisting of 8 each from 8 bucks were collected by artificial vagina method. Each ejaculate was split into 2 equal parts. First part was used for fresh semen evaluation and the other part for protein study. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) indicated 20 different protein bands with molecular weight ranging from 10 kDa to 75 kDa. Among the 20 proteins, only 6 proteins bands were consistently present in all 8 bucks (100%). Protein bands with molecular weight 10, 14, 22, 28, 55, 57 and 60 kDa showed significant positive correlation with certain parameters of the fresh semen, while 47 kDa protein band presented negative correlation with fresh semen characteristics in AHG bucks. In conclusion, the proteins showing significant positive correlation with fresh semen characteristics might serve to screen semen of AHG bucks for breeding programmes.