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Cellular and Molecular Physiology
University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports
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Is Hemoglobin Gelation An Adaptation To The Cold In Boreal Fishes?, Ione Hunt Von Herbing
Is Hemoglobin Gelation An Adaptation To The Cold In Boreal Fishes?, Ione Hunt Von Herbing
University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports
Recent studies of fish red blood cells found that a regular paracrystalline array of hemoglobin (Hb) tetamers formed under low oxygen conditions in 2 species of boreal fishes, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and toadfish, (Opsanus tau). This phenomenon is termed hemoglobin gelation and its physiological characteristics and importance to survival of boreal fishes is unknown. The study outlined in this proposal will obtain preliminary data on the frequency and physiological nature of the phenomenon of hemoglobin (Hb) gelation in red blood cells of fishes that inhabit cold-water temperate and Arctic environments. The present study will test the hypothesis that hemoglobin …