Avian Semen Collection by Cloacal Massage and Isolation of DNA from Sperm.

ABSTRACT: Collection of semen may be useful for a wide range of applications including studies involving sperm quality, sperm telomere dynamics, and epigenetics. Birds are widely used subjects in biological research and are ideal for studies involving repeated sperm samples. However, few resources are currently available for those wishing to learn how to collect and extract DNA from avian sperm. Here we describe cloacal massage, a gentle, non-invasive manual technique for collecting avian sperm. Although this technique is established in the literature, it can be difficult to learn from the available descriptions. We also provide information for extracting DNA from avian semen using a commercial extraction kit with modifications. Cloacal massage can be easily used on any small- to medium-sized male b

SUBMITTER: Kucera AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5912357 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature