Livestock Studies 2019, Vol 59, Num, 3     (Pages: 130-136)

Lyophilization of sperm: Can it be a new storage model for conservation of animal genetic resources?

İlktan Baştan 1 ,Ergun Akçay 2

1 Uluslararası Hayvancılık Araştırma ve Eğitim Merkezi Müdürlüğü Lalahan Mamak/Ankara
2 Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi, Dölerme ve Suni Tohumlama Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
- The conservation of the unique animal genetic resources for endangered or future gene transfer studies is an important strategic planning for each country. Sperm stored in gene banks are at the risk of contamination with liquid nitrogen and also sperm can be damaged and lose fertilization ability due to liquid nitrogen replenishment failure. Sperm lyophilization (freeze-drying) process, which is indicated as an alternative to sperm storage model with liquid nitrogen, preserves sperm DNA integrity despite the loss of motility and cell membrane damage of the sperm. By using of intracytoplasmic sperm injection method, it is possible to produce offsprings from lyophilized sperm samples in wild animals and farm animals as well as in laboratory animals. In this review, it was aimed to give information about lyophilized sperm protocols, storage conditions and in vitro fertilization studies. Keywords : Gen bank, cryoconservation, freeze-drying, assisted reproduction techniques