Embryo production from superovulated Holstein-Friesian dairy heifers and cows after insemination with frozen-thawed sex-sorted X spermatozoa or unsorted semen

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate embryo production in superovulated Holstein-Friesian dairy heifers and cows inseminated with either X-sorted spermatozoa (2 million/dose) or unsorted semen (15 million/dose). Experiment 1 at the research farm involved eight heifers, six cows and semen of one Holstein bull. All transferable embryos were diagnosed for sex. Experiment 2 included embryo collections on commercial dairy farms: X-sorted spermatozoa from three Holstein bulls were used for 59 collections on 28 farms and unsorted semen from 32 Holstein bulls were used for 179 collections on 79 farms. Superovulations were induced by eight declining doses of FSH (total of 12 ml for heifers and 19 ml for cows) starting on days 8–12 of the estrus cycle. Inseminations began 12 h after the onset of estrus and were performed two to four times at 9–15 h intervals. Low-dose X-sorted inseminates were deposited into uterine horns and unsorted semen was placed into the uterine body. In Experiment 1, on average 70.3 and 75.0% of embryos recovered from heifers, and 48.4 and 100% of embryos recovered from cows were of transferable quality in X-sorted and unsorted groups, respectively. The proportion of transferable female embryos produced approximately doubled when insemination was with X-sorted spermatozoa compared to insemination with unsorted semen (heifers 96.4% versus 41.1%; cows 81.1% versus 39.8%). In Experiment 2, estimated 53.9 and 65.5% of embryos recovered from heifers, and 21.1 and 64.5% of embryos recovered from cows were of transferable quality in X-sorted and unsorted groups, respectively. Proportions of unfertilized oocytes were 21.1 and 10.6% for heifers and 56.0 and 14.4% for cows in X-sorted and unsorted groups, respectively. Consequently, cows inseminated with X-sorted spermatozoa produced significantly smaller proportions of transferable embryos ( p p It was concluded that using low-dose X-sorted spermatozoa rather than normal-dose unsorted semen for the insemination of superovulated embryo donors can improve the proportion of transferable female embryos produced but this potential may not be achieved in commercial practice, particularly in cows, because of reduced fertilization rates when using low doses of X-sorted spermatozoa.