Ram Sperm Motility Parameters under The Influence of Epidermal Growth Factor

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is one of the important cytokines that play a role in fertility. It is known that EGF affects both male and female reproduction, but its effect on sperm parameters is not fully understood. Up to the present, the effect of EGF on ram sperm motility parameters has not been published. We analyzed motility parameters of ejaculates after 24, 48, and 72 hours from the EGF addition. EGF was added to chilled ram sperm at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, and 400 ng·ml−1. Analyses were realized using computer, assisted semen analyzer (CASA)—Hamilton Thorn motility analyzer (version 7). The effect of EGF was already visible after 30 min of incubation. Significant effect on ram sperm total motility and progressive movement was observed at higher EGF concentrations after 48 h of incubation. Our results show that EGF affects sperm motility parameters depending on concentration and time of exposure

Comparison of American and European maize (Zea mays L.) protein profiles

Maize is an important crop with great use in agriculture, food and other industries. The aim of this work was to compare 30 varieties of Zea mays L., that were grown in the USA and Europe in terms of nutritional quality and to genetically distinguish them by creating a dendrogram of relationship. The content of total nitrogen, crude protein content, fractional composition of proteins and the calculated coefficient of nutritional quality were all determined. Compared to American varieties, higher nutritional quality was shown by the varieties of European origin with the coefficient of nutritional quality higher about 17.55%. However, the highest value was achieved by the American variety Howling Mob (331.91%). Storage proteins - glutelins were divided according to molecular weight into HMW-GS (high molecular weight glutelin subunits), LMW-GS (low molecular weight glutelin subunits) plus zeins and residual albumins and globulins by electrophoretic separation. The biggest difference was recorded among HMW-GS content - 5.77% (American varieties) and 7.35% (European varieties), while the LMW-GS plus zeins and residual albumins and globulins content was similar. 20 protein bands (15 polymorphic and 5 monomorphic) in American varieties and 18 protein bands (10 polymorphic and 8 monomorphic) in European varieties were evaluated in the electrophoretograms. Based on the presence of individual proteins, a dendrogram was constructed, using the UPGMA (Unweighted Pair-Group Method Using Arithmetic Averages) method and the Jaccard coefficient of similarity. In the dendrogram, 2 clusters of varieties with the dissimilarity 0.481 were formed. In the subgroups, from the point of glutelin polymorphism, the varieties Illinois Hulles and Queen Anna were separated from the others. The European varieties were segregated within the second cluster and created the common subgroup of 2 varieties - Madarska cukrova (Hungary) and Zlota Handlowa (Poland)