Occurrence Of Haemoglobin Research Articles

Structure of the haemoglobin of the marine annelid worm, Glycera dibranchiata, at 5.5 A resolution.

THE wide, albeit sporadic, occurrence of haemoglobin among the phyla presents the opportunity to compare the structures of proteins with like functions but from dissimilar biological sources. Among the mammals myoglobin from the sperm whale1 and the seal2, and the subunits of horse3 and human4 haemoglobin, all have essentially the same tertiary structure. It has also been reported5 that haemoglobin from the fly, Chironomus thummi, has a similar structure.

Occurrence of haemoglobin in the radular muscles of some prosobranch molluscs

1. 1. The buccal mass of seventeen prosobranchs was tested for the presence of haemoglobin in the radular muscles by extraction with distilled water and determination of the absorption spectrum of the extract. 2. 2. The animals included archaeogastropods, mesogastropods and stenoglossans 3. 3. Haemoglobin was found in all the species investigated except one archaeogastropod, the key-hole limpet Diodora graeca (Zeugobranchia, Fissurellidae).

Decrease in the concentration of haemoglobin A2 during erythroleukaemia.

DURING the past decade there have been several descriptions of abnormal haemoglobin in leukaemia1–4. The earliest reports emphasized the increase of foetal haemoglobin content in some cases of leukaemia in children and adults1–3. The occurrence of haemoglobin H in cases of erythroleukaemia and atypical chronic myeloid leukaemia was also reported4. In these cases no alteration in the level of the normal minor haemoglobin fraction, haemoglobin A2, was noted. We have investigated an erythroleukaemic patient with a very low level of haemoglobin A2 which developed in the course of leukaemia.

Occurrence of haemoglobin in some molluscs

Haemoglobin has been shown to be present in the following moluscs examined: Chiton, Aporrhais, Vermetus, Conus, Nassa, Purpura, Tritonalia, Dentalium.

Haemoglobins of invertebrate tissues. Nerve haemoglobins of Aphrodite, Aplysia and Halosydna.

1. The occurrence of haemoglobin in invertebrate nerves is surveyed. Haemoglobin was observed in the nerves and ganglia of the marine nematode Amphiporus sp. and of the polychaet annelid Halosydna sp. 2. Haemoglobins from the nerve and ganglia of the polychaet annelid Aphrodite aculeata L. and from the nerve of the gastropod mollusc Aplysia californica have been partially purified. The haem in each case was identified as iron protoporphyrin IX. 3. The minimum molecular weight of Aphrodite nerve haemoglobin deduced from the haem content and amino acid analysis is 17090, in agreement with the molecular weight 15600+/-1000 determined by sedimentation equilibrium. 4. The molecular weight of Aplysia nerve haemoglobin was determined by sedimentation equilibrium to be 16400+/-1000. 5. The oxygen dissociation curves are hyperbolic. Half-saturation is achieved at 1.1mm. Hg for Aphrodite nerve haemoglobin and at 4.0mm. Hg for Aplysia nerve haemoglobin. The coefficients for partition between carbon monoxide and oxygen are: Aphrodite nerve haemoglobin, 167; Aplysia nerve haemoglobin, 116. 6. The ferrous haemoglobins combine with cyanide. 7. We conclude that the intracellular haemoglobins of muscle and nerve are similar.

Haemoglobin J and E in a Thai kindred.

SINCE its discovery in 1956 by Thorup et al.1 in an American Negro woman, haemoglobin J has been identified in other ethnic groups including Gujerati Indians2,3, Indonesians4,5, French-Canadian6 and Swedish-American7 Caucasians, Algerians8, Chinese in Singapore9, Hakkanese Chinese in Taiwan10, and Hawaiian-Chinese-Caucasians11. This communication concerns the occurrence of haemoglobin J in a Thai family; the family is of special interest because it has haemoglobin E in addition to J.

The distribution of Cooley's anaemia in China

The origins in China of 485 Chinese families or individual patients with Cooley's anaemia, correlated with the origins in China of the population of Hong Kong as revealed by the 1961 census, are reported. The gene has been found to be widely and, possibly, uniformly distributed throughout China and is not restricted to South China. This widespread distribution of the gene among the Chinese, and its occurrence in the three other major subdivisions of the continental Mongoloids (Thais, Tibetans and the descendants of the nomadic Mongoloids of the North), are best interpreted by assuming that the mutation occurred in a stock common to all four sub-divisions, that is, in prehistoric times. This hypothesis is supported by the reports of the gene in Melanesians and by a report of its occurrence in the American Red Indians ( Prouty, 1950) who are considered to be descendants of an eastern migration of Mongoloids over the Bering Strait in the last Ice Age. On the other hand if the gene is indeed absent from the Japanese, in view of their history their escape is difficult to explain on this hypothesis. (Vide addendum). Though admitting the possibility that mass migrations cannot entirely explain the present known geographical distribution of the gene, we conclude that such must have played a major role. Historical evidence is presented which shows that throughout history the mass migrations of people in East Asia have been centrifugal from the homeland of the Mongoloids. This evidence is considered to refute the hypothesis that the gene of Cooley's anaemia was introduced into East Asia from the West. Rather does it indicate that the movements of the Mongoloids may well have been responsible for a wide dissemination of the gene, and the movements of the Mongoloid nomads of the North could have resulted in dissemination of the gene far to the West. The occurrence of haemoglobins E, H and Barts among Chinese from Kwangtung Province is recorded.

OCCURRENCE OF HAEMOGLOBIN H AND HAEMOGLOBIN BART'S IN ALPHA-THALASSEMIA: A FAMILY WITH 2 POSSIBLE HOMOZYGOUS CASES WITH G-6-PD-DEFICIENCY.

IT has now generally been accepted that haemoglobin H, which is a tetramer of normal β-chains, is found only in α-thalassaemia, where the deficiency of α-chains has led to a surplus of β-chains. The problem, however, why in only a small portion of cases of α-thalassaemia can Hb H be detected, has not been solved until now1. Fessas2 reports that at birth all patients with α-thalassaemia have 5 per cent or more Hb Bart's, which is a γ-chain tetramer, but that these patients afterwards develop Hb H only rarely. In family studies of patients with Hb H disease often one parent shows a thalassaemic blood picture, but no Hb H.

A haemoglobin containing only α-chains

Although the in vivo occurrence of haemoglobins which do not contain α-chains, namely haemoglobin H (β 4 A) ( Gouttas et al., 1955; Rigas et al., 1956; Jones et al., 1959) and haemoglobin “Bart's” (γ 4 F) ( Ager and Lehmann, 1958; Hunt and Lehmann, 1959; Kekwick and Lehmann, 1960) is now generally accepted, the analogous haemoglobin α 4 A has not yet been found. In this report, the in vitro preparation of a haemoglobin consisting solely of α A-chains is described and the significance of this finding briefly discussed.

Hæmoglobin E in Egypt

HAEMOGLOBIN E is generally thought to occur exclusively among people of Mongoloid origin ; the greatest incidence being in the Burmese1, Siamese2, Cambodians3, Indonesians4 and Malayans5. The occurrence of haemoglobin E in other peoples, for example, the Eti-Turks, an Arabic-speaking group living in southern Turkey6, is usually accompanied by definite historic or familial ties with the South Eastern Asian. The discovery of haemoglobin E in Egypt among a family which, so far as could be determined, has no direct relationship to the Asiatic (Mongoloid) is now reported.

The Occurrence of Haemoglobin ‘Bart's’ in Conjunction with Haemoglobin H

The Occurrence of Haemoglobin ‘Bart's’ in Conjunction with Haemoglobin H

Occurrence of Multiple Hemoglobins in Certain Breeds of Dairy Cattle

Summary An investigation was conducted to determine whether multiple adult hemoglobins occur normally in dairy cattle. Hemoglobin preparations from 158 animals were examined by paper electrophoresis. All the Holsteins, Brown Swiss, and Ayrshires examined possessed a single component, designated Hemoglobin A. It was concluded that the possession of Hemoglobin A alone is characteristic of Holsteins. On the other hand, a second, faster-migrating component, called Hemoglobin F, was found in the blood of 15 of 34 Guernseys and 17 of 25 Jerseys. Nineteen Guernseys and eight Jerseys had Hemoglobin A only, and two Guernseys and four Jerseys had Hemoglobin F alone. In all blood samples containing both types, the ratio of Hemoglobin A to Hemoglobin F was close to 1:1. The occurrence of Hemoglobin F in some adult dairy animals appears to be a normal, breed-specific phenomenon.

Coproporphyrin formation in yeast.

IN recent articles in Nature, Keilin1 has described the occurrence of haemoglobin, in very low concentration, in certain strains of bakers' yeast, and Keilin and Tissieres2 have likewise demonstrated the presence of haemoglobin in the mycelia of the moulds Neurospora crassa and Penicillium notatum. In the latter investigation, free protohaem was also found, especially in fragments of mycelium undergoing autolysis, following their projection from the aerated nutrient on to the walls of the containing vessel. The free haem in the moulds appeared to originate from intracellular haemoglobin and from some components of cytochrome by an enzymic degradation which accompanied the autolysis of the mycelium. In old mycelia, the free haem itself was further degraded with liberation of iron and the formation of free porphyrin. These important findings are particularly relevant to the study of porphyrin formation in autolysing yeast.

Haemoglobin in fungi; occurrence of haemoglobin in yeast and the supposed stabilization of the oxygenated cytochrome oxidase.

Haemoglobin in Fungi: Occurrence of Haemoglobin in Yeast and the Supposed Stabilization of the Oxygenated Cytochrome Oxidase

On The Occurrence of Haemoglobin and of Erythrocytes in the Perivisceral Fluid of A Holothurian

ABSTRACT On examining specimens of Cucumaria frauenfeldi, it was found by one of us that a red fluid exuded from the body cavity when punctured. C. frauenfeldi (Ludwig), kindly identified for us by Dr Barnard of the South African Museum, is a common representative of the Holothuroidea in the littoral fauna of the Cape Peninsula, especially abundant in rock pools at Sea Point, near Cape Town. It is dark brown in colour and about 112 to 3 inches in length. On cutting through the integument, a densely coloured fluid of a port wine red or scarlet tint exudes. A few seconds after shedding the pigment is seen to be concentrated in flocculent masses which rapidly sediment leaving the supernatant liquor colourless. It can be dispersed again by vigorous shaking, and if then transferred to a test-tube connected with a pump capable of giving a high vacuum, it changes colour from scarlet to a reddish purple on removal of air. On readmitting the latter, and shaking once more, the scarlet colour reappears, thus indicating that the colouring matter itself is a reversibly oxidisable pigment, in all probability one of the family of haemoglobins, a conclusion confirmed, as will be seen later, by spectroscopic examination.