Large percentages of abnormal sperm, termed teratospermia, are associated with poor fertility in cats, many of which are threatened with extinction from their natural habitats. Even normal appearing spermatozoa from felids with teratospermia may have a compromised capacity for motility and fertilization indicating there are factors affecting the fertilization capacity of all sperm regardless of morphology. There was a comparative study conducted using the RNA-Seq approach to identify differentially expressed genes between morphologically normal and abnormal sperm from domestic cates with normospermia and teratospermia to elucidate genes and pathways associated with abnormal sperm function. Normal sperm from cats with teratospermia have a gene expression profile similar to abnormal sperm from males with teratospermia. There was also downregulation of cGMP pathways which may be associated with a lesser sperm motility in ejaculates from males with teratospermia. Kinase phosphorylation pathways also were downregulated in normal spermatozoa from ejaculates of males with teratospermia. Results indicate that analysis of sperm gene expression provides for a more precise assessment of sperm function in semen of cats with teratospermia and facilitates identification of molecular abnormalities that may lead to compromised fertilization capacity.

很大比例的异常精子，称为畸形精子症，与猫的生育能力差有关，其中许多都面临从自然栖息地灭绝的威胁。即使是来自患有畸形精子症的猫科动物的正常出现的精子，其运动能力和受精能力也可能受到损害，这表明存在影响所有精子受精能力的因素，无论其形态如何。使用 RNA-Seq 方法进行了一项比较研究，以识别来自正常精子和畸形精子的家猫形态正常和异常精子之间的差异表达基因，以阐明与精子功能异常相关的基因和途径。来自患有畸形精子症的猫的正常精子具有类似于来自患有畸形精子症的男性的异常精子的基因表达谱。cGMP 通路也有下调，这可能与男性畸形精子症射精中精子活力降低有关。来自患有畸形精子症的男性射精的正常精子中激酶磷酸化途径也被下调。结果表明，精子基因表达的分析可以更精确地评​​估畸形精子症猫精液中的精子功能，并有助于识别可能导致受精能力受损的分子异常。