In this study we investigated the susceptibility of frozen-thawed swamp buffalo
sperm nuclear DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) to undergo controlled acid-induced
denaturation in situ, as analysed by FCM (flow cytometry), and aimed to correlate
the results with sperm head morphology over three seasons in tropical Thailand.
Artificial insemination (AI) doses (n=218) from 18 AI buffalo sires, prepared
between 1980 and 1989, and 2003 and 2005, were tested and compared between
three seasons, the rainy season: July–October; winter: November–February; and
summer: March–June. The overall mean of DFI (± SD) was 1.84±1.68 %, range
from 0.19 to 7.92 %, with 0.221±0.021 of the x-DFI ranging from 0.190 to 0.350
and 0.023±0.009 of the SD-DFI ranging from 0.010 to 0.070. The DFI (DNA
fragmentation index) was consistently low (range 1.40±0.21% to 2.16±0.21%,
LSM±SEM), with x-DFI ranging from 0.216±0.003 to 0.225±0.003, and SD-DFI