Invertebrate hemoglobins: the dimeric hemoglobin from the mollusc Scapharca inaequivalvis.

Abstract

The dimeric hemoglobin from the mollusc Scapharca inaequivalvis represents a beautifully simple model system for the study of cooperative phenomena in hemoglobins. The mollusc was brought to our attention due to an ecological problem. S. inaequivalvis is an indopacific species which has settled along the Middle Adriatic coast only in recent years. Its demographic increase has since been explosive and has been associated with the progressive disappearance of the native species Venus gallina. The adaptation and the survival of S. inaequivalvis can be easily explained in terms of the presence of erythrocytes in its coelomic fluid and of the periodical limitations in oxygen content of the Middle Adriatic Sea due to the process of eutrophization.1 KeywordsSedimentation VelocitySodium DithioniteOxygen BindingCoelomic FluidOxygen DissociationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.