Sperm transport and reservoirs in the pig oviduct in relation to the time of ovulation

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Abstract
The rate of establishment of a population of viable spermatozoa in the oviducts was studied using a technique of post-coital transection in conjunction with subsequent examination of the proportion of eggs fertilized. Gilts were mated early in estrus (before ovulation) or on the 2nd day of estrus (after ovulation), and 30, 45 or 60 min later the reproductive tract was sectioned just above or below the utero-tubal junction in 48 animals; these were slaughtered 1 or 2 days after the operation. Some fertilized eggs were recovered from 40 animals, and 72.3% of the 679 eggs examined were fertilized. Mean percentage fertilization increased overall with the time elapsing from mating to transection, with transection below the utero-tubal junction compared with in the caudal isthmus, and with a post-ovulatory vs. preovulatory mating. In a further 6 gilts, the results of transection in the lower third of the oviduct 3 h after mating at the onset of estrus indicated that spermatozoa were initially sequestered in the caudal portion of the isthmus. A population of spermatozoa sufficient to give maximum fertilization apparently is established in the oviducts within 1-2 h of mating, thereby affording protection from the uterine invasion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes.