Name: avian semen collection by cloacal massage and isolation of dna from sperm
Uploaded: 2018-02-05T12:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Avian Semen Collection by Cloacal Massage and Isolation of DNA from Sperm at JoVE.com

We thank Jose Noguera for early assistance with cloacal massage, and Jeffrey Kittilson for lab support. This work was supported by a ND EPSCoR FAR0022429 award to BJH. Publication costs were generously supported by the NDSU Department of Biological Sciences.

This protocol involves vertebrate animal subjects and has been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at North Dakota State University.
1. Semen collection from a passerine bird using cloacal massage
NOTE: Cloacal massage is an effective semen collection technique on reproductively active birds only, but can be performed successfully outside of the breeding season in appropriate captive situations. Reproductive activity should be determine...

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We describe a simple and reliable method for collecting semen from small and medium birds in reproductively active condition, and extracting DNA from avian sperm.
The described semen DNA extraction protocol is modified from a kit for simplicity, but was refined for use on avian semen. Sperm are resistant to lysis by standard extraction chemicals9,13, and semen samples collected from passerines are fairly small (typically a few microlit...

Birds are ideal subjects for studies involving sperm quality and competition1, sperm telomere dynamics2, epigenetics3, and similar topics, as they are widely used in biological research and sperm can be easily sampled using cloacal massage. Cloacal massage is a gentle, non-invasive manual technique for collecting semen from birds4,5,6. Repeated samples can be obtained easily and no special tools are required, making it simple to perform in the field or lab. Although cloacal massage has been in use for decades, it is difficult to learn from the available written descriptions. This publication is intended to reduce the time and uncertainty involved in learning cloacal massage.
Semen collected from birds using cloacal massage can be used immediately for motility assessment4,7 or artificial insemination8, or frozen for other uses such as advanced imaging and DNA extraction. Semen samples from passerine birds are small but contain densely packed sperm. DNA is extracted using a commercial extraction kit for simplicity, with modifications to overcome the specialized protective features of sperm9. After extraction, sperm telomeres can be measured using qPCR10.

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	<tbody>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Microhematocrit capillary tubes</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Fisherbrand</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">22-362566</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Any supplier can be used. Smaller tubes may be more effective for collection of small semen samples, such as from very small passerine birds like chipping sparrow.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Microcentrifuge tubes</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Any</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">1x PBS</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Any</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Used for storing semen samples prior to DNA extraction.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">DL-Dithiothreitol</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">D0632</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Tris base</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td align="right" style="width:119px;">10708976001</td>
			<td>Any supplier can be used.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">EDTA</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td align="right" style="width:119px;">1233508</td>
			<td>Any supplier can be used.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">NaCl</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td align="right" style="width:119px;">793566</td>
			<td>Any supplier can be used.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">SDS</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td align="right" style="width:119px;">1614363</td>
			<td>Any supplier can be used.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">QIAamp DNA micro kit</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Qiagen</td>
			<td align="right" style="width:119px;">56304</td>
			<td>Qiagen QIAamp DNA micro kit is recommended specifically. This DNA extraction protocol has been attempted with other commercial kits but with little success. The reasons for this are unknown to us.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

avian semen collection by cloacal massage and isolation of dna from sperm

Collection of semen may be useful for a wide range of applications including studies involving sperm quality, sperm telomere dynamics, and epigenetics. Birds are widely used subjects in biological research and are ideal for studies involving repeated sperm samples. However, few resources are currently available for those wishing to learn how to collect and extract DNA from avian sperm. Here we describe cloacal massage, a gentle, non-invasive manual technique for collecting avian sperm. Although this technique is established in the literature, it can be difficult to learn from the available descriptions. We also provide information for extracting DNA from avian semen using a commercial extraction kit with modifications. Cloacal massage can be easily used on any small- to medium-sized male bird in reproductive condition. Following collection, the semen can be used immediately for motility assays, or frozen for DNA extraction following the protocol described herein. This extraction protocol was refined for avian sperm and has been successfully used on samples collected from several passerine species (Passer domesticus, Spizella passerina, Haemorhous mexicanus, and Turdus migratorius) and one columbid (Columba livia).

Cloacal massage and DNA extraction using the described protocol has been performed on several passerine species and one columbid (Table 1). The presence of sperm in semen samples collected by cloacal massage was confirmed by viewing a small amount of the diluted samples under a compound microscope at 400X&#160;magnification (Figure 3). After extracting DNA from semen samples collected from house sparrows using the protocol described here, eig...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Avian Semen Collection by Cloacal Massage and Isolation of DNA from Sperm at JoVE.com

Avian Semen Collection by Cloacal Massage and Isolation of DNA from Sperm

This protocol describes cloacal massage, a non-invasive manual technique for collecting semen from birds, and DNA extraction from avian sperm using a commercial extraction kit with modifications.

Collection of semen may be useful for a wide range of applications including studies involving sperm quality, sperm telomere dynamics, and epigenetics. ...

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