# Bovine sperm sncRNAs vary according to bull fertility

Eli Sellem

► To cite this version:

Eli Sellem. Bovine sperm sncRNAs vary according to bull fertility. EAAP, Aug 2025, Innsbruck, Austria. **hal-05499468**

HAL Id: **hal-05499468**

https://hal.science/hal-05499468v1

Submitted on 8 Feb 2026

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<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>
Bovine sperm sncRNAs vary according to bull fertility

Valentin Costes<fnref n="1" />, Chrystelle Le Danvic<fnref n="1" />, Aurelie Bonnet<fnref n="1" />, Sylvain Marthey<fnref n="2" />, Anne Frambourg<fnref n="3" />, Helene Jammes<fnref n="3" />, Laurent Schibler<fnref n="1" />, Eliaou Sellem<fnref n="3" />

Semen fertility remains a key concern in the breeding sector. As conventional sperm quality assessments fail to accurately predict fertility, sperm small non coding RNAs (sncRNAs) content are emerging as a promising approach for fertility issues.

Ejaculates from 100 Montbéliard bulls (43 subfertiles vs 57 fertiles according to their adjusted non-return rate at 56 days) were analysed to identify potential sperm sncRNAs fertility biomarkers. These ejaculates were collected between 17 and 19 months of age from bulls born from 2011 to 2015. Extracted RNAs have been used for UMI sequencing (Illumina HISeq2000, 20 million reads, 75 bases single-end). MiRDeep2 was used for annotation and quantification, while DeSeq2 identified differentially expressed sncRNAs between fertility groups. Expression differences were considered significant at Benjamini-Hochberg adjusted p-value <0.05 and differential at <0.1. TargetScan was used to predict the genes potentially targeted by the identified microRNAs(miRNAs).

Among the 413,196 analysed sncRNAs, 94% are expressed under 10 copies per sample, nearly 5% between 5 to 100 copies, and less than 1% above 100 copies. The twenty most expressed sncRNAs, mainly miRNAs and transfer RNA fragments (tsRNAs), represent 33% of total reads. A total of 552 differential sncRNAs were considered by DeSeq2, with 151 showing a significant differential expression. Interestingly, 49.6% of these sequences were acquired in the epididymis cauda. Several differentially expressed miRNAs, such as miR-6526 or miR-30d, have already been associated with sperm motility or abnormalities. Enriched biological pathways among predicted target genes include anatomical structure morphogenesis, system development and regulation of transcription. Some of these genes, such as STAT3 or SMAD1, play established roles in embryo development.

These interesting findings indicate that specific sperm sncRNAs are associated with fertility status. Further studies are necessary to confirm their potential as biomarkers for bull fertility.

<footnote n="1">¹R&D Department, Eliance, 149 rue de Bercy, 75012, Paris, France</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² INRAE, MaIAGE, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France.</footnote>