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Science 25 February 1983:
Vol. 219. no. 4587, pp. 981 - 983
DOI: 10.1126/science.219.4587.981
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Articles

Thermal Vent Clam (Calyptogena magnifica) Hemoglobin

ROBERT C. TERWILLIGER 1, NORA B. TERWILLIGER 1, and ALISSA ARP 2

1 Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Institute of Marine Biology, Charleston 97420
2 Oceanic Biology Group, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106

A heterodont bivalve mollusk Calyptogena magnifica, from the East Pacific Rise and the Galápagos Rift hydrothermal vent areas, contains abundant hemoglobin in circulating erythrocytes. No other known heterodont clam contains a circulating intracellular hemoglobin. The hemoglobin is tetrameric and has a relatively high oxygen affinity, which varies only slightly between 2° and 10°C. The presence of hemoglobin in the clam may facilitate the transport of oxygen to be used in chemoautotrophic hydrogen sulfide metabolism.

Submitted on June 10, 1982
Revised on November 12, 1982


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Nonvertebrate Hemoglobins: Functions and Molecular Adaptations.
R. E. Weber and S. N. Vinogradov (2001)
Physiol Rev 81, 569-628
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)