Sperm quality in the stallion and genomic markers for infertility and conception success

Summary The present study summarizes several papers on sperm quality in stallions and the state of the art in the search for genomic markers for stallion fertility and infertility. Systematic effects on semen quality traits were investigated in 381 stallions used for artificial insemi­nation (AI) either at the Lower Saxon National Stud Celle or the North Rhine-Westphalian National Stud Warendorf. For these stallions representing 22 breeds, a total of 71,078 fresh semen reports of the years 2001 to 2014 were recorded. Sperm traits analysed were gel-free volume, sperm concentration, total number of sperm, progressive motility and total number of progressively motile sperm. Variance components among stallions within breeds were significant...