Objective
Infertility is a worldwide problem affecting the cattle industry. After successful insemination, embryonic and foetal mortality take place in about 50% of the cases, with most of these losses occurring before implantation. Due to beef and dairy constituting 20.8% of the EU agricultural output, reproductive inefficiency translates into a tremendous social and bioeconomic impact. Although many factors can be involved in preimplantation loss, there is increasing evidence for the role of the maternal immune system and its regulation by seminal plasma (SP). Studies in rodents, humans and pigs have described beneficial effects of SP in improving embryo development and implantation. However, evidence for a role of SP in fertility in cattle, where removal of SP before artificial insemination is routine, is relatively weak. Thus, this project will use a model of heifers mated to vasectomised or intact bulls, to study the role of SP in paternal-maternal communication as it pertains to embryo development and immune modulation. To accomplish this task, a talented Fellow will join a leading laboratory in male reproductive physiology where she will build on her existing skills and acquire new multidisciplinary competencies. An ambitious, yet realistic, work plan has been designed based on the excellent background of the Fellow and the training she will receive, the expertise of the supervisor in male reproductive physiology, and the infrastructure within the host lab for conducting all the experiments with the most appropriate tools. This will ensure that the Fellow completes the scientific objectives of the proposal, communicate and disseminate the results to the scientific and general public, while acquiring a new set of skills that will have a dramatic impact in her career development. If the beneficial effects of SP on fertility is recapitulated in cattle, the associated increased production and efficiency could have a tremendous impact in the beef and dairy industries.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineandrology
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinegynaecologyreproductive medicine
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineembryology
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
17004 Girona
Spain