Diluters for Bovine Semen. VIII. The Effects of Alterations of Some Physical Factors of a Milk Diluter on the Livability of Bull Spermatozoa

Several workers have shown that a relationship exists between the osmotic pressure and electrolyte concentration of diluters Kampschmidt et al. (4) found that partial replacement of the sodium containing buffer salts in an egg yolk-buffer diluter by solutions of metabolizable sugars resulted in increased survival of bull spermatozoa during storage, provided a sufficient quantity of buffer remained to maintain an optinmm prI level during storage. In his monograph, Biochemistry of Sea, ten, Mann (5) has indicated that the ultimate effect of tonicity depends upon certain other prevailing conditions, including the ratio between electrolytes and nonelectrolytes that contribute to the tonicity. Work by Emmens (1) with rabbit spermatozoa indicated that pII is also a complicating factor in studies with osmotic pressure and electrolyte concentration. This paper will report the effects of independent variations in pH, osmotic pressure, and electrolyte concentration in a milk diluter and their interactions on the livability of bull spermatozoa.