title: The primary structure of sperm whale hemoglobin (Physeter catodon, cetacea).
abstract: The complete primary structure of the two major hemoglobin components of sperm whale (Physeter catodon) is presented. The major components A and B account for 55% and 40% respectively whereas the minor component constitutes for 5% of the total hemoglobin. The globin chains were separated on CM-Cellulose in 8M urea buffer. The sequence was determined by automatic Edman degradation of tryptic and hydrolytic peptides in a liquid phase sequencer. Alignment of the sequence with human hemoglobin shows 22 exchanges each for the alpha I and alpha II and 21 exchanges for the beta I and beta II chains. Within the two beta-chains three differences have been located, beta NA2 His/Gln, beta A2 Gly/Ala and beta A8 Leu/Val. The two alpha-chains are characterized by heterogeneities at position alpha A8 Val/Ile or Ala/Ile (ratio of the phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of the amino acids 1:1) and alpha AB1 Asn/Ser (ratio of the phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of the amino acids 6:4). The role of these exchanges in modulating oxygen affinity is discussed.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008297:Male; D010455:Peptides / Q000032:analysis; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000032:analysis*; D014357:Trypsin; D014907:Whales
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D010455:Peptides; D014357:Trypsin