Interrelationships Between Spermatozoa, The Female Reproductive Tract, and The Egg Investments

Abstract

This chapter describes some principal physiological events during transport of spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract from the time of ejaculation until penetration of the egg investments at the start of fertilization. The objective is to review our current understanding of the relevant processes and to highlight areas requiring further research; it is also hoped to contrast certain aspects of sperm transport in pigs with those in ruminants. Although much of the material discusses processes not obviously susceptible to manipulation, topics related to the successful practice of artificial insemination are emphasized. Previous reviews of sperm transport in the female reproductive tract of pigs include those of Hunter (1973a; 1975a,b; 1980), Polge (1978) and Einarsson (1980), and a comprehensive coverage of the early literature is found in these works. The volume edited by Hafez and Thibault (1975) compares mechanisms of sperm transport and storage in a wide range of vertebrates, whilst fertilization itself is described in pigs by Thibault (1959), Hancock (1961), Baker, Dziuk and Norton (1967), Hunter (1972a, 1974), Szollosi and Hunter (1973; 1978), Baker and Polge (1976) and Polge (1978).