This book provides a broad perspective on understanding bovine fertility, focusing on the classification and interpretation of bovine sperm defects.

Building upon the success of its first edition published in 1989, this new edition has been significantly updated and expanded to reflect developments over the past three decades. The chapters cover topics such as the normal and abnormal development of bovine sperm, the mechanisms behind sperm defects, and the impact of these defects on fertility. Special attention is drawn at advances in genomic research and the use of sperm quality biomarkers and genetic screening tests in the assessment of bull fertility. In addition to this, the work explores critical periods for sexual development in bulls, such as early gestation and pre-weaning.

This monograph is intended for researchers and students in the field of animal reproduction, veterinarians, and animal scientists. It provides a deep understanding of bovine fertility, a topic that is crucial for anyone working in livestock production or related fields. The knowledge gained from this book will be beneficial to those seeking to improve livestock productivity and thus contribute to global food security.

Autorentext

Albert Barth received his DVM degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1971 and worked in private practice for 7 years. He received a Master of Veterinary Science degree in 1978, and board certification in the American College of Theriogenologists in 1982. For the remainder of his career he was on faculty at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan involved in teaching, clinical service, and research. He received professorship in 1987 and retired in 2013. His main research interests were in applied Theriogenology with emphasis in bull fertility. Specific interests included spermatology, pubertal development, reproductive diseases, and mating performance. Dr. Barth was instrumental in getting the first edition of the book, 'Abnormal Morphology of Bovine Spermatozoa' by Barth and Oko, published by Iowa Press in 1989.

Viv Perry obtained her PhD in bull fertility from the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland in 1988. Her postdoctoral fellowship focused on fetal programming (FP) in the heifer, with particular emphasis upon the effect of gestational diet upon reproductive development of the offspring. In 2011, she was appointed Associate Professor at the School of Veterinary and Medical Science, University of Nottingham. Dr. Perry's leadership in UK and Australian Universities, of large-scale bovine research studies into both FP and bull fertility, has enabled a greater understanding of the role of diet upon bovine development and fertility. She holds honorary research positions at both the University of Queensland and Adelaide and manages Commercial Semen Laboratories.

Lauren E. Hamilton earned her PhD in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences specializing in Reproduction and Development from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 2019. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Missouri-Columbia from 2020-2024 and a 2021 Lalor Foundation Fellowship recipient. Her work focuses on the proteomic composition of mammalian sperm structures, the genomic origins of sperm morphology defects and the use of sperm nanopurification technology to improve the overall sperm quality of a bovine ejaculate.

Peter Sutovsky earned his PhD degree from the Czech Academy of Sciences in 1994. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison WI, and Staff Scientist at the Oregon Health & Science University, Portland OR, before his 2001 faculty appointment at the University of Missouri, Columbia MO, where he is currently a Professor of Animal Science, and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health. He is recognized for his studies of mammalian gametogenesis, fertilization, and embryo development with emphasis on the gamete and zygotic ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). He was the first to describe the role of UPS in the regulation of mitochondrial inheritance, and introduced the concept of extracellular UPS and its role in sperm maturation and fertilization. His most recent work focuses on biomarker-based flow cytometric semen analysis, semen nanopurification, sperm genome-to-phenotype research, and sperm capacitation studies aimed at improving conception rates in livestock and humans.

Richard Oko obtained his PhD in Veterinary Anatomy from the University of Saskatchewan in 1984, under the supervision of Dr. Francis Hrudka. Following this, he accepted a postdoctoral position, funded by an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research scholarship, under Dr. Yves Clermont at McGill University, where subsequently he was appointed Assistant Professor. Dr. Oko then joined the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Queen's University (now the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences) becoming a Full Professor in 2004. His research program in reproductive biology received continual research funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He is recognized for studies on the developmental biology of specialized mammalian sperm head and tail components, their molecular composition and their roles during fertilization.