Sperm chromatin integrity is essential for successful fertilization and development of an embryo. Reported here is a quantification of DNA fragments which is intimately associated with reproductive potential to provide one of criteria for sperm chromatin integrity. Three sperm populations were considered: CONTROL (no treatment), UV irradiation (48mW/, 1h) and (oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide, 10 mM, 50 mM and 100 mM). DNA fragments in boar sperm were evaluated by using ligation-mediated quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (LM-qPCR) assay, which relies on real-time qPCR to provide a measure of blunt 5' phosphorylated double strand breaks in genomic DNA. The results in agarose gel electrophoresis showed no significant DNA fragmentation and no dose-dependent response to . However, the remarkable difference in shape and position was observed in melting curve of LM-qPCR. This result supported that the melting curve analysis of LM-qPCR presented here, could be more sensitive and accurate than previous DNA fragmentation assay method.

Sex-sorting of sperm is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) used by the livestock industry for the mass production of animals of a desired sex. The standard method for sorting sperm is the detection of DNA content differences between X and Y chromosome-bearing sperm by flow cytometry. However, this method has variable efficiency and therefore requires verification by a second method. We have developed a sex determination method based on quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of the porcine amelogenin (AMEL) gene. The AMEL gene is present on both the X and the Y chromosome, but the length and sequence of its noncoding regions differ between the X and Y chromosomes. By measuring the threshold cycle (Ct) of qPCR, we were able to calculate the relative frequency of X chromosome. Two sets of AMEL primers were used in these studies. One set (AME) targeted AMEL gene sequences present in both X and Y chromosome, but produced PCR products of different lengths for each chromosome. The other set (AXR) bound to AMEL gene sequences present on the X chromosome but absent esholthe Y-chromosome. Relative product levels were calculated by normalizing the AXR fluorescence to the AME fluorescence. The AMEL method accurately predicted the sex ratios of boar sperm, demonstrating that it has potential value as a sex determination method.