Genetic basis of semen traits and their relationship with growth rate in rabbits

This work aims to estimate the genetic parameters of seminal and production traits in a paternal line of rabbits selected for ADG during the fattening period. The considered traits were male libido (Lib) defined as successful mounting of an artificial vagina; presence of urine (Ur) and calcium carbonate deposits (Ca) in the ejaculate; semen pH; individual sperm motility (IM); the suitability for AI of the ejaculate (Sui), which involves the subjective combination of several quality traits; the average ejaculate volume (Vol); sperm concentration (Conc); and the average sperm production per ejaculate (Prod = Vol × Conc). The genetic relationship between all of these traits with ADG is also provided. Male libido and seminal data came either from routine evaluations of the ejaculates in an AI center or from 2 experiments in which bucks from the same population were used. Two consecutive ejaculates per male and per week were collected, leaving 7 d within weekly collections. A linear tri-trait model was used to analyze Conc, Vol, and ADG, whereas linear and threshold-linear 2-trait models were used to analyze male libido and the remaining seminal traits with ADG. A Bayesian approach was adopted for inference. Approximately 38% of ejaculates were rejected for AI primarily due to low IM scores. Variables related to the quality of the ejaculate (Ur, Ca, pH, IM, Sui) and Lib were found to be lowly heritable (h(2) ranged from 0.04 to 0.11), but repeatable. This indicates performance of bucks for seminal quality traits and libido in AI centers would be more strongly affected by management practices rather than genetic selection. Semen production traits exhibited moderate values of h(2) (0.22, 0.27, and 0.23 for Conc, Vol, and Prod, respectively), suggesting the possibility of effective selection for these traits. A moderate to high negative genetic correlation (r(g); posterior mean; highest posterior density at 95%, HPD(95%)) was estimated between Conc and Vol (-0.53, HPD(95%) = -0.76, -0.27). The ADG was estimated to have an h(2) of 0.16, to have a low, positive r(g) with Conc (0.21, HPD(95%) = -0.03, 0.48), to have a low, negative r(g) with Vol (-0.19, HPD(95%) = -0.47, 0.08), and to be genetically uncorrelated with all remaining traits analyzed. Therefore, selection for increasing ADG in paternal lines is expected to have no detrimental effects on Ur, Ca, pH, IM, Sui, and Lib and little to no effect on Conc, Vol, and Prod.