Relationships between Response to FAA (Fertility-Associated Antigen) and Semen Characteristics and Conception Rate of Artificial Insemination in Hanwoo
This study was undertaken to determine whether the presence of fertility-associated antigen (FAA) in semen would influence semen characteristics and conception rate of artificial insemination in Hanwoo. The response to FAA of 36 heads of proven bull, 7 heads of young bull, and 27 heads of performance-tested bull was that one proven bull was FAA-negative and the others were FAA-positive, therefore FAA-negative bull was 1.4%. FAA-negative bull was lower in first and second semen concentrations than those of FAA-positive bull in 5,301 semen of 21 heads of proven bull, then FAA-negative bull was fewer as 11.5% in total sperm counts. The estrus of 22 heads was 70d-nonreturned in 36 cows first inseminated with frozen semen of FAA-negative bull, but that of 249 heads in 378 cows first inseminated with frozen semen of FAA-positive bull. Each conception rate was 61.1% and 65.9%, respectively. The difference of conception rates was 4.8%. These results indicate that the response of FAA to semen were influenced semen characteristics and conception rate of artificial insemination, but further investigations are needed to confirm the results.