Clustering of sperm by chromatin integrity features reveals breed and monthly effects, as well as a link between double-strand DNA breaks and litter size in pigs
Jordi Ribas-Maynou, Pablo Martínez-Díaz, Judit Drago, Ana Parra, Xiomara Lucas, Marc Yeste, Jordi Roca, Isabel Barranco · 2026
Read Clustering of sperm by chromatin integrity features reveals breed and monthly effects, as well as a link between double-strand DNA breaks and litter size in pigs by Jordi Ribas-Maynou, Pablo Martínez-Díaz, Judit Drago, Ana Parra, Xiomara Lucas, Marc Yeste, Jordi Roca, Isabel Barranco (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13573492.txt.
Description
Jordi Ribas-Maynou, with seven colleagues, reports a 2026 study of sperm chromatin in boars and what it means for breeding. Chromatin, the packed DNA in sperm, can vary in tightness and breakage, and those traits may steer fertility. Pig data on this front were thin, and breed or season effects were unknown.
The team measured how sperm DNA is packed and whether it carries single or double breaks, then grouped boars by those patterns. Clusters split along breed lines and shifted by month, which shows season leaves a mark on sperm quality. One break type, double-strand breaks in the DNA, tied to litter size in the outcome data. Such links could give stud farms a lab flag for picking boars. The authors frame chromatin checks as a new layer for selection programs.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Jordi Ribas-Maynou, Pablo Martínez-Díaz, Judit Drago, Ana Parra, Xiomara Lucas, Marc Yeste, Jordi Roca, Isabel Barranco |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 46441 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |