Primary structure of two linker chains of the extracellular hemoglobin from the polychaete Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus

Two types of linker subunits (linkers 1 and 2) of the extracellular hemoglobin of Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus have been isolated as disulfide-linked homodimers by C18 reverse-phase chromatography. These subunits constituted 6 and 13%, respectively, of total protein area on the chromatogram. The complete amino acid sequences of linkers 1 and 2 were determined by automated Edman sequencing of the peptides derived by digestions with lysyl endopeptidase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease, pepsin, and endoproteinase Asp-N. The linker 1 consisted of 253 amino acid residues (the calculated molecular mass, 28,200 Da), while the linker 2 consisted of 236 residues (26,316 Da). The two chains showed 27% sequence identity. The amino acid sequences of Tylorrhynchus linkers 1 and 2 also showed 23-27% homology with the recently determined sequence of a linker chain of Lamellibrachia hemoglobin (Suzuki, T., Takagi, T., and Ohta, S. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 1551-1555). In the three linker chains, half-cystine residues were highly conserved; 8 out of 13 residues are identical, suggesting that such residues would contribute to the formation of intrachain disulfide bonds essential for the protein folding of the linker polypeptides. Based on the exact molecular masses of the linker and the heme-containing subunits, the molar ratios estimated for the subunits and the minimum molecular weights per 1 mol of heme, a model is proposed for the subunit structure of the Tylorrhynchus hemoglobin, consisting of 216 polypeptide chains, 192 heme-containing chains, and 24 linker chains.     

Subunit structure of extracellular hemoglobin from the polychaete Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus and amino acid sequence of the constituent polypeptide chain (IIC)

Tylorrhynchus cyanomethemoglobin reduced with dithiothreitol was separated by chromatofocusing into four heme-containing polypeptide chains (I, IIA, IIB, and IIC) and a non-heme chain (N). The molecular weights of chains IIA-C and N were confirmed to be the same by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate on a 10-20% gradient gel. The molecular weight of chain IIC was determined to be 17,415 (including heme) from the amino acid sequence. Chain N constitutes less than 5% of the total protein and has the same NH2-terminal sequence, suggesting that it is derived from chain IIA during the isolation procedure. Tylorrhynchus hemoglobin consists of two types of subunit with molecular weights of 16,327 (chain I) and approximately 50,000, and the latter splits into chains IIA-C in the presence of a reducing agent. On the basis of the accurate value obtained for the molecular mass of chain IIC, it was concluded that the subunit of approximately 50,000 daltons is a trimer of heme-containing chains IIA, IIB, and IIC linked by disulfide bonds. The cysteine residue at position 5 and the arginine at position 10 are conserved in the four heme-containing chains of Tylorrhynchus hemoglobin. The complete sequence of 149 residues of Tylorrhynchus chain IIC was determined. This sequence shows high homology with Tylorrhynchus chain I (Suzuki, T., Takagi, T., and Gotoh, T. (1982) Biochem. Biophys. Acta 708, 253-258) and Lumbricus chain AIII (Garlick, R. L., and Riggs, A. F. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 9005-9015).     

A dodecamer of globin chains is the principal functional subunit of the extracellular hemoglobin of Lumbricus terrestris

Repeated dissociation of the approximately 3600-kDa hexagonal bilayer extracellular hemoglobin of Lumbricus terrestris in 4 M urea followed by gel filtration at neutral pH produces a subunit that retains the oxygen affinity of the native molecule (approximately 12 torr), but only two-thirds of the cooperativity (nmax = 2.1 +/- 0.2 versus 3.3 +/- 0.3). The mass of this subunit was estimated to be 202 +/- 15 kDa by gel filtration and 202 +/- 26 kDa from mass measurements of unstained freeze-dried specimens by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of this subunit showed that it consists predominantly of the heme-containing subunits M (chain I, 17 kDa) and T (disulfide-bonded chains II-IV, 50 kDa). Mixing of subunits M and T isolated concurrently with the 200-kDa subunit resulted in partial association into particles that had a mass of 191 +/- 13 kDa determined by gel filtration and 200 +/- 38 kDa determined by scanning transmission electron microscopy and whose oxygen affinity and cooperativity were the same as those of the 200-kDa subunit. The results imply that the 200-kDa subunit is a dodecamer of globin chains, consisting of three copies each of subunits M and T (3 x chains (I + II + III + IV], in good agreement with the mass of 209 kDa calculated from the amino acid sequences of the four chains, and represents the largest functional subunit of Lumbricus hemoglobin. Twelve copies of this subunit would account for two-thirds of the total mass of the molecule, as suggested earlier (Vinogradov, S. N., Lugo, S. L., Mainwaring, M. G., Kapp, O. H., and Crewe, A. V. (1986) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 83, 8034-8038). The retention of only partial cooperativity by the 200-kDa subunit implies that full cooperativity is dependent on the presence of a complete hexagonal bilayer structure, wherein 12 200-kDa subunits are linked together by approximately 30-kDa heme-deficient chains.     

Amino acid sequence of yeast hemoglobin. A two-domain structure.

The complete amino acid sequence of a hemoglobin from yeast (Candida norvegensis) has been determined by peptide and cDNA sequence analyses. The protein is composed of 387 amino acid residues and its amino terminus was blocked by an acetyl group. A computer search showed that the sequence of 155 N-terminal residues has 39% homology with that of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin. On the other hand, the sequence of 230 C-terminal residues showed a small, but notable, degree of similarity with that of a methemoglobin reductase found in human erythrocyte, i.e. NADH-cytochrome b5 oxido-reductase. We therefore conclude that yeast hemoglobin consists of two distinct domains; one is a heme-containing oxygen binding domain of the N-terminal region and the other is an FAD-containing reductase domain found in the C-terminal region.     

Amino acid sequence of the monomer subunit of the giant multisubunit hemoglobin from the earthworm Pheretima sieboldi

The giant extracellular hemoglobin of the earthworm Pheretima sieboldi is mainly composed of two heme-containing subunits: a monomer; chain I and a disulfide-bonded trimer of chains II, III and IV. Both subunits can be separated easily by gel filtration under alkaline conditions. The amino acid sequence of chain I has been determined. It is composed of 141 residues, has two half-cystine residues forming a intrachain disulfide bridge, and has a molecular mass of 16911 Da including a heme group. Heterogeneity was found at position 37 (His or Ser). The amino acid sequence of Pheretima chain I showed 30-50% identity with those of eight heme-containing chains of Lumbricus and Tylorrhynchus hemoglobins. The sequences of nine chains of annelid giant hemoglobins were compared separately in the functionally essential central exonic region and structurally essential side exonic regions, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The amino acid substitution rate for the central exon was found to be about 1.5 times slower than that for the side exons.     

Cartilage type IX collagen-proteoglycan contains a large amino-terminal globular domain encoded by multiple exons

Type IX collagen in cartilage consists of molecules composed of three genetically distinct polypeptide subunits. One of the subunits, alpha 2(IX), contains a covalently attached glycosaminoglycan side chain whereas a second subunit, alpha 1(IX), contains a large noncollagenous, amino-terminal domain called NC4. In this report, we describe for the first time the complete primary structure of this noncollagenous domain, based on cloning and sequencing of cDNA and genomic DNA as well as amino acid sequencing of tryptic peptides. Analysis of genomic clones has also allowed determination of the exon structure of NC4. Our results demonstrate that the noncollagenous, amino-terminal domain of alpha 1(IX) chains contains 266 amino acid residues (including the signal peptide) with 5 cysteinyl residues forming two disulfide bridges. The domain is basic with an estimated pI of 9.7, thus supporting the idea that it may participate in ionic interactions with polyanionic glycosaminoglycans in cartilage. Both the sequence and exon structure of the NC4 domain is unique among collagens and there is no obvious homology with the noncollagenous domains of other types of collagen, including the propeptides of fibrillar collagens.     

Structure of the murine immune response I-A beta locus: sequence of the I-A beta gene and an adjacent beta-chain second domain exon

The murine major histocompatibility complex I region encodes two class II antigens, I-A and I-E. From a mouse spleen DNA cosmid library of the b haplotype, we isolated a clone containing the entire I-A beta gene and a separate exon encoding a beta-chain second domain (A beta 2). The A beta gene, encompassing more than 6 kb, is encoded by six exons corresponding to the different domains of the A beta polypeptide. The translated A beta amino acid sequence displays 73% homology to human DC beta chains; homologies to other subsets of human beta chains are lower, establishing that I-A corresponds structurally to DC. The A beta 2 exon is about 20 kb centromeric to the A beta gene. Its translated amino acid sequence includes all the conserved amino acids of other class II beta-chain second domains. It shows about 60% homology to each of three subsets of human beta chains available for comparison, and to the A beta chain. No A beta 2 first domain exon has been detected with A beta or DC beta probes.     

Primary structure of a constituent polypeptide chain (AIII) of the giant haemoglobin from the deep-sea tube worm Lamellibrachia. A possible H2S-binding site.

The deep-sea tube worm Lamellibrachia, belonging to the Phylum Vestimentifera, contains two giant extracellular haemoglobins, a 3000 kDa haemoglobin and a 440 kDa haemoglobin. The former consists of four haem-containing chains (AI-AIV) and two linker chains (AV and AVI) for the assembly of the haem-containing chains [Suzuki, Takagi & Ohta (1988) Biochem. J. 255, 541-545]. The tube-worm haemoglobins are believed to have a function of transporting sulphide (H2S) to internal bacterial symbionts, as well as of facilitating O2 transport [Arp & Childress (1983) Science 219, 295-297]. We have determined the complete amino acid sequence of Lamellibrachia chain AIII by automated or manual Edman sequencing. The chain is composed of 144 amino acid residues, has three cysteine residues at positions 3, 74 and 133, and has a molecular mass of 16,620 Da, including a haem group. The sequence showed significant homology (30-50% identity) with those of haem-containing chains of annelid giant haemoglobins. Two of the three cysteine residues are located at the positions where an intrachain disulphide bridge is formed in all annelid chains, but the remaining one (Cys-74) was located at a unique position, compared with annelid chains. Since the chain AIII was shown to have a reactive thiol group in the intact 3000 kDa molecule by preliminary experiments, the cysteine residue at position 74 appears to be one of the most probable candidates for the sulphide-binding sites. A phylogenetic tree was constructed from nine chains of annelid giant haemoglobins and one chain of vestimentiferan tube-worm haemoglobin now determined. The tree clearly showed that Lamellibrachia chain AIII belongs to the family of strain A of annelid giant haemoglobins, and that the two classes of Annelida, polychaete and oligochaete, and the vestimentiferan tube worm diverged at almost the same time. H.p.l.c. patterns of peptides (Figs. 4-7), amino acid compositions of peptides (Table 2) and amino acid sequences of intact protein and peptides (Table 3) have been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50154 (13 pages) at the British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem. J. (1990) 265, 5.     

Complete primary structure of the transacylase (E2b) subunit of the human branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex

We isolated from a placental cDNA library by immunoscreening a cDNA clone encoding the transacylase (E2b) precursor of the human branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase (BCKDH) complex. The cDNA insert consists of 2,649 base pairs with an open reading frame of 1,431 base pairs which can be translated into 477 amino acids and a 3'-untranslated region of 1,205 base pairs. The deduced amino acid sequence includes a leader peptide of 56 amino acid residues, a lipoyl-bearing domain, a E3-binding domain and an inner core domain. A mature human E2b subunit is likely to contain 421 amino acid residues with a calculated Mr 46,322. The nucleotide sequence of the open reading frame and the deduced amino acid sequence of the human E2b shows 91.6% and 92.0% homology with those of the bovine E2b subunit, respectively.     

Amino acid sequence of the monomer subunit of the extracellular hemoglobin of Lumbricus terrestris

The giant extracellular hemoglobin (3,800 kDa) of the oligochaete Lumbricus terrestris consists of four subunits: a monomer (chain I), two subunits each of about 35 kDa (chains V and VI), and a disulfide-bonded trimer (50 kDa) of chains II, III, and IV. The complete amino acid sequence of chain I was determined: it consists of 142 amino acid residues and has a molecular weight of 16,750 including a heme group. Fifty-nine residues (42%) were found to be identical with those in the corresponding positions in Lumbricus chain II (Garlick, R. L., and Riggs, A. F. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 9005-9015); 45 (32%), 56 (40%), 44 (31%), and 45 (32%) residues were found to be in identical positions in the sequences of chains I, IIA, IIB, and IIC, respectively, of Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus hemoglobin (Suzuki, T., and Gotoh, T. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 9257-9267). When the sequences of all six annelid chains are compared, 18 invariant residues are found in the first 104 residues of the molecule; very little homology exists among the annelid chains in the carboxyl-terminal 38-residue region. Nine of the 18 invariant residues are also found in the human beta-globin chain.     

Isolation and sequence analysis of cDNA clones for the small subunit of rabbit calcium-dependent protease

We have isolated and sequenced cDNA clones for the small subunit (30-kDa subunit) of rabbit calcium-dependent protease (Ca2+-protease) using synthesized oligodeoxynucleotide probes based on the partial amino acid sequence of the protein. A nearly full-length cDNA clone containing the total amino acid coding sequence was obtained. From the deduced sequence, the following conclusions about possible functions of the protein are presented. The kDa subunit comprises 266 residues (Mr = 28,238). The N-terminal region (64 residues) is mainly composed of glycine (37 residues) and hydrophobic amino acids and may interact with the cell membrane or an organelle. The sequence of the C-terminal 168 residues is highly homologous to the corresponding C-terminal region of the large subunit (80-kDa subunit) which has been identified as the calcium-binding domain. This region of the 30-kDa subunit contains four E-F hand structures and presumably binds Ca2+, as in the case of the 80-kDa subunit. Thus, the 30-kDa subunit may play important roles in regulating enzyme activity and/or possibly in determining the location of the Ca2+-protease. The marked sequence homology of the C-terminal regions of the two subunits may indicate that the calcium-binding domains have evolved from the same ancestral gene.     

Primary structure of the gene for the murine Ia antigen-associated invariant chains (Ii). An alternatively spliced exon encodes a cysteine-rich domain highly homologous to a repetitive sequence of thyroglobulin.

The gene for murine Ia-associated invariant (Ii) chains (Ii31 and Ii41) was characterized by sequence analysis. The gene extends over approximately 9 kb and is organized in nine exons. Exon 1 encodes the 5' untranslated region and the cytoplasmic segment, exon 2 the membrane spanning segment and adjacent amino acids and exons 3-8 the extracytoplasmic portion of Ii31. Putative promoter sequences were found upstream of the start of the coding sequence. Between exons 6 and 7 an additional, alternatively spliced exon 6b has been identified. This exon is spliced into the mRNA coding for the Ii-related Ii41 protein. Exon 6b encodes a cysteine-rich domain of 64 amino acids. It shows a remarkably high homology to the repetitive elements in thyroglobulin, a precursor for thyroid hormone. Based on this homology, it is suggested that this domain (TgR) in Tg and in Ii41 may play a role either in hormone formation or as a carrier in the transport of molecules (thyroid hormone or processed antigen respectively) between intracellular compartments.     

Aspects of the Origin and Evolution of Non-Vertebrate Hemoglobins

Hemoglobins, found in members of almost all invertebrate phyla,display an extraordinary diversity of form and function. Althoughsome are intracellular with chains and assemblies similar insize to those of vertebrates, others are giant extracellularproteins with masses as large as 8,000 kilodaltons. Two verydifferent strategies have evolved for the stabilization of theselarge molecules. The first is the formation of both intra- andinterchain disulfide bonds that effectively immobilize segmentsof the protein, and the second is the evolution by gene duplicationof multi-domain chains with from two to eighteen myoglobin-like,heme-containing domains in a single polypeptide that may beas large as {small tilde}260 kilodaltons. The genes for vertebrateglobins have a characteristic two-intron, threeexon structure.The gene encoding chain c of the hemoglobin of the earthwormLumbricus terrestris has precisely the same organization andsplice junction positions. This shows that these positions havebeen conserved for at least 600 million years, the estimatedtime of divergence of annelids and the ancestor to chordates.The gene encoding a hemoglobin (leghemoglobin) of higher plantsshows exactly the same splice junctions as in the globin genesof vertebrates except that the middle exon is split by an additionalintron which is believed to have been lost early in animal evolution.The occurrence of hemoglobins in diverse higher plants suggeststhat they might be present in all plants albeit at very lowconcentrations and perhaps serving an enzymatic function. Hemoglobin,broadly defined as a heme-containing protein capable of reversiblecombination with oxygen, also occurs in bacteria and fungi.The discovery of a bacterial hemoglobin that is 26% identicalwith lupin leghemoglobin indicates a procaryotic origin. Thepossibility that hemoglobin may have evolved from a cytochromeis suggested by the presence of hemoglobins in the yeast, Candida,and the bacterium, Alcaligenes, that contain both heme and flavin.They must therefore have evolved by the fusion of the genesfor two different proteins. However, the possible homology ofthe heme domains with plant or animal hemoglobins remains tobe determined. The lactic dehydrogenase of yeast, cytochromeb2, is also a soluble flavoheme protein with a heme domain thatis homologous with mammalian cytochrome b5. Globin may haveevolved in part from a member of the cytochrome b5 family, butif so, the event must have occurred so early that only a borderlineperhaps random correspondence of amino acid sequences remains     

Cloning, sequencing, and characterization of the gene encoding the smallest subunit of the three-component membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase from Acetobacter pasteurianus.

The membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) of Acetobacter pasteurianus NCI1452 consists of three different subunits, a 78-kDa dehydrogenase subunit, a 48-kDa cytochrome c subunit, and a 20-kDa subunit of unknown function. For elucidation of the function of the smallest subunit, this gene was cloned from this strain by the oligonucleotide-probing method, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence and the NH2-terminal sequence determined for the purified protein indicated that the smallest subunit contained a typical signal peptide of 28 amino acids, as did the larger two subunits. This gene complemented the ADH activity of a mutant strain which had lost the smallest subunit. Disruption of this gene on the chromosome resulted in loss of ADH activity in Acetobacter aceti, indicating that the smallest subunit was essential for ADH activity. Immunoblot analyses of cell lysates prepared from various ADH mutants suggested that the smallest subunit was concerned with the stability of the 78-kDa subunit and functioned as a molecular coupler of the 78-kDa subunit to the 48-kDa subunit on the cytoplasmic membrane.     

Molecular cloning and chromosomal assignment of the porcine 54 and 56 kDa vacuolar H(+)-ATPase subunit gene (V-ATPase)

Vacuolar proton-translocating ATPases (V-ATPase) are multisubunit enzyme complexes located in the membranes of eukaryotic cells regulating cytoplasmic pH. So far, nothing is known about the genomic organization and chromosomal location of the various subunit genes in higher eukaryotes. Here we describe the isolation and analysis of a cDNA coding for the 54- and 56-kDa porcine V-ATPase subunit alpha and beta isoforms. We have determined the genomic structure of the V-ATPase subunit gene spanning at least 62 kb on Chromosome (Chr) 4q14-q16. It consists of 14 exons with sizes ranging from 54 bp to 346 bp, with a non-coding first exon and an alternatively spliced seventh exon leading to two isoforms. The 5′ end of the V-ATPase cDNA was isolated by RACE-PCR. The V-ATPase alpha isoform mRNA, lacking the seventh exon, has an open reading frame of 1395 nucleotides encoding a hydrophilic protein of 465 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 54.2 kDa and a pI of 7.8, whereas the beta isoform has a length of 1449 nucleotides encoding a protein of 483 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 55.8 kDa. Amino acid and DNA sequence comparison revealed that the porcine V-ATPase subunit exhibits a significant homology to the VMA13 subunit of Saccharomyces cerevisiae V-ATPase complex and V-ATPase subunit of Caenorhabditis elegans. Received: 14 May 1998 / Accepted: 20 October 1998     

Brain proline-directed protein kinase is a neurofilament kinase which displays high sequence homology to p34cdc2.

The carboxyl-terminal regions of neurofilament high (NF-H) and middle (NF-M) molecular weight proteins have been suggested to be phosphorylated in vivo by a p34cdc2-like protein kinase, on the basis of the in vivo phosphorylation site motif and in vitro phosphorylation of the proteins by p34cdc2 kinase (Hisanaga, S.I., Kusubata, M., Okumura, E. and Kishimoto, T. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 21798-21803). A novel proline-directed protein kinase previously identified and purified from bovine brain has been found in this study to phosphorylate NF-H and NF-M at sites identical to those phosphorylated by HeLa cell p34cdc2 kinase. The proline-directed kinase is composed of a 33-kDa and a 25-kDa subunit. The 33-kDa kinase subunit was partially sequenced, and degenerate oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the amino acid sequence information were used to clone the subunit by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two overlapping PCR products comprised a complete open reading frame of 292 amino acids. The sequence contains all features of a protein kinase, suggesting that the 33-kDa peptide represents the catalytic subunit of the kinase. The 33-kDa subunit shows high and approximately equal homology to human p34cdc2 and human cdk2, with about 58 and 59% amino acid identity, respectively. These results suggest that the brain kinase represents a new category of the cdc2 family, and that some members of the cdc2 kinase family may have major functions unrelated to cell cycle control.     

The primary structure of coagulation factor IX/factor X-binding protein isolated from the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis. Homology with asialoglycoprotein receptors, proteoglycan core protein, tetranectin, and lymphocyte Fc epsilon receptor for immunoglobulin E

An anticoagulant protein, factor IX/factor X-binding protein (IX/X-bp), isolated from the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis, binds with factor IX and factor X in the presence of Ca2+ with a 1 to 1 stoichiometry (Atoda, H., and Morita, T. (1989) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 106, 808-813). Analysis of S-pyridylethylated IX/X-bp by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a 16.0-kDa band (designated the A chain) and a 15.5-kDa band (designated the B chain). These two chains were separated by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography, and their complete amino acid sequences were determined by sequencing of the peptides obtained after digestion with lysyl endopeptidase, chymotrypsin, and V8 protease from Staphylococcus aureus and after chemical cleavage with cyanogen bromide. The A chain had an amino-terminal sequence of Asp-Cys-Leu-Ser-Gly- and consisted of 129 residues with Mr 14,830. The B chain has an amino-terminal sequence of Asp-Cys-Pro-Ser-Asp- and consists of 123 residues of Mr 14,440. There was 47% identity between the A and the B chain. The sequence of IX/X-bp showed 25-37% identity with that of the C-type carbohydrate recognition domain-like structure of acorn barnacle lectin, human and rat asialoglycoprotein receptors, the human lymphocyte Fc epsilon receptor for immunoglobulin E, proteoglycan core protein, pancreatic stone protein, and tetranectin. The sequences of the first 18 amino acid residues of both the A and B chains were also, to a certain extent, homologous to the partial amino acid sequence of the b subunit of factor XIII, a member of the beta 2-glycoprotein I-like family. In this region, some similarity with the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of botrocetin was also observed.     

Conserved domains in molybdenum hydroxylases. The amino acid sequence of chicken hepatic sulfite oxidase

The amino acid sequence of the molybdenum-containing domain of chicken hepatic sulfite oxidase has been determined by Edman degradation of the purified protein. Combining these data with those previously published for the heme-containing domain (Guiard, B., and Lederer, F. (1979) Eur. J. Biochem. 100, 441-453) indicates that each subunit of the homodimer comprises a single polypeptide chain containing 460 amino acid residues (Mr = 50,545). Comparison of the sequence with the cDNA-deduced sequence of assimilatory nitrate reductase from Arabidopsis thaliana shows a substantial degree of sequence conservation in the regions of the proteins that have been identified as comprising the Mo-pterin- and cytochrome b557-binding domains. These results suggest that the sequences forming the molybdenum-binding domains of the molybdenum hydroxylases may have evolved from a common ancestral gene.     

The complete amino acid sequence of giant multisubunit hemoglobin from the polychaete Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus

The extracellular hemoglobin from the polychaete Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus is a "giant," multisubunit protein with an apparent molecular weight of 3.37 X 10(6), and consists of two types of subunits: a "monomeric" chain (chain I) and a disulfide-bonded "trimer" of chains IIA, IIB, and IIC. We reported the amino acid sequences of chains I, IIB, and IIC previously (Suzuki, T., Yasunaga, H., Furukohri, T., Nakamura, K., and Gotoh, T. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 11481-11487). The sequence of chain IIA has now been determined. Chain IIA consists of 146 amino acid residues with a heme group and has a molecular weight of 17,236. All of the constituent chains of Tylorrhynchus hemoglobin appear to be homologous with those of vertebrate hemoglobins and contain heme. Distal (E7) His, distal (E11) Val, and proximal (F8) His are all conserved in the four chains. Phylogenetically, chain IIA appears more closely related to the monomeric chain I than to either of the other "trimeric" chains IIB and IIC. This is the first giant extracellular hemoglobin to be sequenced completely.