A chapter was published with the authorship of Ákos and Dr. Béla Urbányi in the book entitled Reproduction in Aquatic Animals: From Basic Biology to Aquaculture Technology edited by Dr. Manabu Yoshida and Dr. Juan F. Asturiano and published by Springer. The book is the final result of the activities of the COST Action FA1205 AQUAGAMETE as well as the International Symposium on “AQUAGAMETE: Reproduction of Aquatic Animals” held in the Joint Meeting of the 22nd International Congress of Zoology and the 87th meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan, which was held from 14th to 19th November 2016 in Okinawa, Japan. The authors wish to thank Dr. Yoshida and Dr. Asturiano for taking care of the book and making it happen. Enjoy!
Horváth Á., Urbányi B. (2020) Chapter 15 Sperm Cryopreservation of Aquatic Species. In: Yoshida M., Asturiano J. (eds) Reproduction in Aquatic Animals. Springer, Singapore, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2290-1_16
Cryopreservation of fish sperm is feasible, and methods have been developed for several hundred species. The procedure includes the collection of sperm and assessment of its quality, dilution in suitable extenders, addition of cryoprotectants, loading into freezing devices, cooling, storage, thawing, and finally post-thaw use of sperm. An alternative to traditional freezing methods is the vitrification of sperm which is promising primarily in smaller model fish species. A wide variety of protocols are available in the literature; however, in spite of the significant progress made by the scientific community, commercial application of fish sperm cryopreservation is still very limited.
Fish Reproduction Group (Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Institute of Aquaculture and Environmental Safety, Department of Aquaculture)
5/12/2020
New paper published in Fish and Shellfish Immunology
A new paper with Ákos' co-authorship was published in the journal Fish and Shellfish Immunology. The paper was a result of a collaboration among Dr. Daniel Żarski of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the team of Dr. Patrick Kestemont of the University of Namur in Belgium, Dr. Pascal Fontaine of the University of Lorraine in France and the Department of Aquaculture of Szent István University. It was also financed by the Hungarian-Walloon bilateral project TÉT_14_VL1-2015-0001. Enjoy!
Żarski, Daniel ; Ben Ammar, Imen ; Bernáth, Gergely ; Baekelandt, Sébastien ; Bokor, Zoltán ; Palińska-Żarska, Katarzyna ; Fontaine, Pascal ; Horváth, Ákos ; Kestemont, Patrick ; Mandiki, Syaghalirwa N.M. Repeated hormonal induction of spermiation affects the stress but not the immune response in pikeperch (Sander lucioperca). Fish and Shellfish Immunology 101 pp. 143-151. , 9 p. (2020)
Hormonal induction of spermiation, previously reported to be immunogenic in fishes, is a common hatchery practice in pikeperch, Sander lucioperca. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of repeated induction of spermiation in pikeperch, following application of either human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or salmon gonadoliberine analogue (sGnRHa) on sperm quality indices as well as on immune and stress response. Mature males of pikeperch (n = 7 per group) were stimulated twice with five days between injections of either hCG (hCG; 500 IU kg−1), sGnRHa (sGnRHa; 50 μg kg−1) or NaCl (control group; 1 ml kg−1) to assess spermatozoa motility with a computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system. During second sampling, blood plasma was sampled for humoral innate immune (peroxidase and lysozyme activities, ACH50), stress (cortisol, glucose) and endocrine (testosterone) markers. In addition, the head kidney was dissected to assay the expression of several immune genes (such as il1, c3, hamp, tnf-α and lys genes). The results indicate that hormonal treatment significantly increased sperm production. Sperm sampled after the hormonal treatment maintained its quality throughout the study, regardless of the sampling time. However, it appears that the application of hCG induced elevated cortisol and glucose plasma levels compared to the control group. Almost all immune markers, except the relative expression of hepcidin (hamp gene), were unaffected by the two hormones applied. The results showed that the induction treatment of spermiation processes in pikeperch resulted in an important physiological stress response for which the intensity varied according to the hormonal agent used. However, this stress response (more profound following application of hCG) was weakly associated with innate immune functions. On the other hand, a significant negative correlation between the expression of several important immune markers (peroxidase activity, relative expression of c3 and il1 genes) and sperm quality indices indicates significant involvement of immune status on sperm quality. The results obtained shed light on immune-system- induced modifications to sperm quality. The data presented here highlight the need for careful revision of broodstock management and selection practices where welfare status as well as individual predispositions of fish to cope with the stress should be taken under the consideration.
Żarski, Daniel ; Ben Ammar, Imen ; Bernáth, Gergely ; Baekelandt, Sébastien ; Bokor, Zoltán ; Palińska-Żarska, Katarzyna ; Fontaine, Pascal ; Horváth, Ákos ; Kestemont, Patrick ; Mandiki, Syaghalirwa N.M. Repeated hormonal induction of spermiation affects the stress but not the immune response in pikeperch (Sander lucioperca). Fish and Shellfish Immunology 101 pp. 143-151. , 9 p. (2020)
Hormonal induction of spermiation, previously reported to be immunogenic in fishes, is a common hatchery practice in pikeperch, Sander lucioperca. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of repeated induction of spermiation in pikeperch, following application of either human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or salmon gonadoliberine analogue (sGnRHa) on sperm quality indices as well as on immune and stress response. Mature males of pikeperch (n = 7 per group) were stimulated twice with five days between injections of either hCG (hCG; 500 IU kg−1), sGnRHa (sGnRHa; 50 μg kg−1) or NaCl (control group; 1 ml kg−1) to assess spermatozoa motility with a computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system. During second sampling, blood plasma was sampled for humoral innate immune (peroxidase and lysozyme activities, ACH50), stress (cortisol, glucose) and endocrine (testosterone) markers. In addition, the head kidney was dissected to assay the expression of several immune genes (such as il1, c3, hamp, tnf-α and lys genes). The results indicate that hormonal treatment significantly increased sperm production. Sperm sampled after the hormonal treatment maintained its quality throughout the study, regardless of the sampling time. However, it appears that the application of hCG induced elevated cortisol and glucose plasma levels compared to the control group. Almost all immune markers, except the relative expression of hepcidin (hamp gene), were unaffected by the two hormones applied. The results showed that the induction treatment of spermiation processes in pikeperch resulted in an important physiological stress response for which the intensity varied according to the hormonal agent used. However, this stress response (more profound following application of hCG) was weakly associated with innate immune functions. On the other hand, a significant negative correlation between the expression of several important immune markers (peroxidase activity, relative expression of c3 and il1 genes) and sperm quality indices indicates significant involvement of immune status on sperm quality. The results obtained shed light on immune-system- induced modifications to sperm quality. The data presented here highlight the need for careful revision of broodstock management and selection practices where welfare status as well as individual predispositions of fish to cope with the stress should be taken under the consideration.
5/11/2020
Conference in Croatia
The 55th Croatian & 15th International Symposium on Agriculture was held on February 16-21st, 2020, in Vodice, Croatia. Ákos has given a presentation entitled:
Ákos Horváth, Jelena Lujić, Zoran Marinović, Márton Hoitsy, Béla Urbányi, György Hoitsy:
The use of the hybrid tiger trout as a recipient for interspecific transplantation of spermatogonia
Ákos Horváth, Jelena Lujić, Zoran Marinović, Márton Hoitsy, Béla Urbányi, György Hoitsy:
The use of the hybrid tiger trout as a recipient for interspecific transplantation of spermatogonia
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| Ákos giving the presentation (photo by R. Balogh) |
A trip to Poland
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has anchored us to Hungary without much opportunities to travel, on February 7-9th, thus before the outbreak we (Nevena, Zoran and Ákos) managed to visit our friend, Dr. Daniel Żarski of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. We also had the opportunity to meet Dr. Andrzej Ciereszko, head of Gamete and Embryo Biology group of the institute and members of his team. Our mission was to bring around 100 Atlantic salmon juveniles to Hungary for scientific experiments on their gonads. The fish arrived successfully after a 14-hour journey.
We wish to thank Daniel, Andrzej, Sylwia and all our friends in Poland for their help!
We wish to thank Daniel, Andrzej, Sylwia and all our friends in Poland for their help!
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| Strengthening the Polish-Hungarian-Serbian friendship at the dinner (photos by D. Żarski) |
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