Mazen Alomar - Division of Animal Production, Department of Agriculture, Atomic Energy Commission, Damascus, Syria.

In this study, the effects of monosaccharides, including glucose and fructose, and disaccharides, namely sucrose and trehalose, in eight Tris media on the motility patterns of small ruminants spermatozoa were investigated. Fresh and chilled semen samples from five Awassi rams and five Shami bucks were diluted in TBM and TEY containing ۵۰ mM of the four different sugar types. The characteristics of spermatozoa motility were analyzed using a computer-assisted sperm analyzer (CASA). Fresh ram spermatozoa incubated in a TBM-fructose medium had the highest CASA values with no differences between the motility values generated from the fructose- and glucose-supplemented media. Trehalose reduced the values of velocity parameters, including VAP, VCL, and VSL for fresh ram sperm. Sucrose was the most influential sugar in raising the values of motility parameters MOT%, PMOT%, VAP, VCL, and VSL for fresh bucks spermatozoa, while trehalose generally had an important positive effect on chilled buck sperms. No significant differences (p > ۰.۰۵) were recorded for sperm trajectory parameters where the values of STR% and LIN% for the two ruminant species and the two spermatozoa types did not significantly differ between the eight media. It was concluded that during the first hours of in vitro incubation and based on the incubation temperature, the velocity parameters of small ruminant spermatozoa were the most affected CASA characteristics by monosaccharides and disaccharides supplementations in Tris semen media.

Spermatozoa, Motility, CASA, Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Trehalose