Plant & Animal Genomes XVII Conference

January 10-14, 2009
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Functional Genomics Of Bull Spermatozoa

Erdogan Memili

  Department of Animal and Dairy sciences, Mississippi State University, 4025 Wise Center, Mississippi State, MS 39762

Oocyte and spermatozoan each contributes haploid genomes to the diploid zygote upon fertilization. These gametes are cornerstones of early mammalian reproduction since proper development of these gametes sets the stage for successful embryonic and fetal development, i.e., fertility. Despite normal morphology, motility and number of sperm, some bulls have low fertility called uncompensable traits, which are believed to be caused by the molecular defects in the spermatozoa. This presentation will focus on identification of molecular clues including proteins, RNAs as well as SNPs present in spermatozoa of bulls with varying fertility using ‘omics’ approaches. Our results support the fact that in addition to the haploid genome, spermatozoan also provides other macromolecules such as RNAs and proteins into the oocyte, and abnormalities in these could be contributing to male sub-fertility.