The role of zinc in promoting the opalescence and cold precipitation of boar seminal plasma

Abstract

Zinc alone of the metals present in boar seminal plasma causes an opalescence in normal samples at room temperature. This opalescence is increased by cooling to 4°C, leading in some cases to a definite precipitate which redisperses on warming. The normal opalescence can be minimized by addition of fractional millimolar amounts of EDTA equivalent to the zinc present. This treatment also abolishes the precipitate which occurs on cooling.