为了制定有效的野生啮齿动物管理和保护策略,了解与它们繁殖有关的方面,包括这种生理功能与环境的相互作用,是必不可少的。本研究旨在评估半干旱地区干旱和雨季的天气变化对红腰刺(Dasyproctaleporina)附睾精子特征的影响,一种地中海啮齿动物,仍然很少研究,居住在巴西卡廷加。收集来自14个阿古耳附睾尾管的精子,每个季节(干旱和多雨)七个人。评估样品的动力学参数,膜结构和功能的完整性,线粒体活性,形态学,和形态计量学。测量了环境变量:最高气温,相对湿度,风速,太阳辐射,旱季和雨季的总降雨量为,分别,36.2和34.1°C,66.8和80.1%,4.0和1.9m/s,527.3和441.8W/m2,以及0.2和517.7mm。一些精子参数和环境变量之间有很强的相关性,主要是那些与精子获得有关的活动。干期精子浓度和精子数量(1028.7精子/mL×10和1361.2×106精子)高于雨季(758.9精子×10mL和714.6精子×106)。在雨季,精子缺陷较少,更高的精子指标,和更高的膜结构完整性与线粒体活性。关于运动性模式,雨季的增长在总体和渐进的运动性上表现突出,VAP,VSL,VCL,和快速精子的亚群。总之,我们的结果表明,半干旱地区旱季的不利气候条件,主要是高太阳辐射和温度,严重损害红腰阿古蒂斯的附睾精子质量。相反,这个季节获得的精子数量最多,可能是由于该物种的补偿和适应性机制使其全年繁殖。
For the development of efficient management and conservation strategies for wild rodent species, understanding the aspects related to their reproduction, including the interaction of this physiological function with the environment, is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of weather changes derived from a semiarid region\'s dry and rainy seasons on the epididymal sperm characteristics of red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina), a histricognath rodent, still little studied, which inhabits the Brazilian Caatinga. The sperm from the epididymal cauda of 14 agoutis were collected, seven individuals per season (dry and rainy). Samples were evaluated for kinetic parameters, membrane structural and functional integrity, mitochondrial activity, morphology, and morphometry. The environmental variables were measured: maximum air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, and the total rainfall for dry and rainy seasons were, respectively, 36.2 and 34.1 °C, 66.8 and 80.1%, 4.0 and 1.9 m/s, 527.3 and 441.8 W/m2, and 0.2 and 517.7 mm. There were strong correlations between some sperm parameters and environmental variables, mainly those related to the acquisition of sperm mobility. Sperm concentration and the number of sperm collected were higher in the dry (1028.7 sperm/mL × 10⁶ and 1361.2 × 106 sperm) than in the rainy season (758.9 sperm × 10⁶/mL and 714.6 sperm × 106). During the rainy season, there were fewer sperm defects, higher sperm metrics, and higher membrane structural integrity with mitochondrial activity. Regarding motility patterns, the increases during the rainy season stand out in total and progressive motility, VAP, VSL, VCL, and subpopulations of rapid sperm. In summary, our results suggest that the adverse climatic conditions of the dry season in the semiarid region, mainly high solar radiation and temperature, considerably impair the epididymal sperm quality of red-rumped agoutis. On the contrary, the largest amount of sperm was obtained during this season, probably due to compensatory and adaptive mechanisms of the species to enable its reproduction throughout the year.