Abstract
The effects of pH on the oxygen equilibrium of the American eel Anguilla rostrata (LeSueur) hemolysates in the presence and absence of the major erythrocytic organic phosphates, guanosine and adenosine triphosphates, were determined. The hydrogen-ion concentration was found to be a strong modulator of oxygenation in hemolysates devoid of their organic phosphates causing the typical lowering of oxygen affinity with decreasing pH (Bohr effect). An enhancement of this effect was observed when endogenous organic phosphates were present in the hemolysates except within a narrow pH range where the oxygenation equilibrium for both forms of hemolysate approximated one another. The data strongly suggest that the anodic component of the eel's multiple hemoglobins functions primarily in the delivery of oxygen to the respiring tissues while the cathodic fraction, with its high oxygen affinity and lack of a Bohr effect, operates to meet intracellular metabolic demands.
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