Mouse sperm motility affected by factors in the T/t complex

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Abstract
Motility characteristics of epididymal sperm from tw32/+ and T/+ males of several strains were compared to those of sperm from the congenic, wild‐type mice. Epididymal sperm from C57BL/6‐tw32/+ (B6‐tw32/+) males showed a significant decline in vigorous motility and a significant increase in adhesivity to glass during 7.5 hours in vitro, while sperm from B6‐+/+ males showed no changes in these characteristics. The apparent mean velocities of epididymal sperm were: B6‐tw32/+, 32 μ/sec; C3H‐tw32/+, 60; B6XC3H hybrids (F1*‐tw32/+), 44; and C3HXB6 hybrids (F1‐tw32/+), 58. Each of these values was significantly lower than that of sperm from their congenic wild‐type strains: B6‐+/+, 115; C3H‐+/+, 177; F1*‐+/+, 168 and F1‐+/+, 195 μ/sec. B6‐T2J/+ sperm had velocities intermediate to the congenic +/+ and tw32/+ genotypes, whereas C3H‐T/+ sperm velocity was not significantly different from C3H‐+/+. These differences in measured sperm velocity may not reflect real differences in swimming speed, but rather may indicate a difference in the shape of swimming trajectories. Erratic and convoluted swimming trajectories were observed for the majority of sperm from tw32/+ males of all genotypes. Differences in motility patterns of sperm from tw32/+ males could play a role in the abnormally high transmission of tw32 through the male.