The world is currently facing an amphibian extinction crisis and wild salamanders and newts (Order: Caudata) are the most disadvantaged with 52% of species threatened. Captive breeding programs are been established to act as assurance colonies, but they are overwhelmingly failing due to the lack of environmental cues to stimulate reproduction and other factors. Therefore, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are being developed to overcome these barriers. This project expands upon the limited existing information on caudate ART through studies in the model species, Ambystoma tigrinum, for application to threatened species. Specific objectives included the characterization of motility longevity in artificially collected sperm samples, investigation of cryoprotective agents and freeze rates in sperm cryopreservation, and application of ART in three at-risk newt species. This study informs needed future advances in caudate ART protocols, especially sperm cryopreservation, and demonstrates their transferability to threatened species across families.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-1795 |
| Date | 07 August 2020 |
| Creators | Gillis, Amanda |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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