OptiSex

In dairy cattle farming, female calves are favoured as they represent a higher value for the farmer. The sex of the offspring is naturally determined by the sex chromosome of the fertilising sperm (X chromosome for female calves and Y chromosome for male calves). The aim of this project is therefore to research and establish a new method for sorting bovine sperm. The separation of bovine ejaculates into X- and Y-chromosomal sperm fractions is to be achieved by activating so-called TLR 7 and TLR 8 receptors on the surface of the bovine sperm. These occur naturally in high frequency only in X-chromosome-bearing sperm and can be activated by a specific ligand (R848), which severely restricts the motility of the affected sperm. The limited motility of the X chromosome-bearing sperm should in turn be utilised to remove them from the ejaculate after developing and testing suitable separation methods (e.g. the ability to float in the medium). This procedure has already been successfully carried out experimentally in mouse ejaculates, whereas the necessary procedures for the bovine species have yet to be developed and optimised. We are therefore planning extensive studies in cooperation with the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover to optimise the procedure in the bovine species. In the long term, this would enable efficient sorting of X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm, allow the sex of the calf to be predicted and thus make a valuable contribution to animal welfare.

Project partner:

Clinic for Cattle, Reproductive Medicine and Biotechnology Group

Running time:
Until 2026

Funding: