Conservation of peculiar structural properties by the hemoglobins of anguilloid eels (Teleostei)

The three species investigated, the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.), the Mediterranean moray, Muraena helena L., and the conger eel, Conger coner (L.), represent three different superfamilies of the suborder Anguilloidei (infradivision Elopomorpha). Their hemoglobin systems show peculiar structural properties, which distinuish them from all other teleost species studied. They present acidic and basic components differing greatly in their isoelectric points; the basic components have the highest isoelectric points detected in teleost hemoglobins. While there is one major basic component, multiplicity is present in the acidic components in Muraena and Conger. The polyeptides of the acidic comonents show the same electrophoretic mobility in 8 M urea. In the three species, the electroploretic mobility with urea-SDS of the hemoglobin polypeptides shows a shorter β polypeptide in the basic components. These features had never been investigated among Elopomorpha, and are likely to be phylogenetically relevant.