The Primary Structure of Adult Hemoglobin of Musk Shrew(Suncus murinus)

Abstract
An .alpha. chain and 2 .beta. chains (.beta.I and .beta.II) were obtained from adult Hb of the musk shrew (S. murinus) by CM-cellulose column chromatography. The S-carboxymethylated .alpha. chain and the S-aminoethylated .beta. chains were each digested with trypsin and the amino acid sequences of the tryptic peptides obtained were established. The ordering of these peptides in the .alpha. and .beta. chains was deduced from their homology with the primary structures of the .alpha. and .beta. chains of human adult Hb. The sequence of the .alpha. chain thus determined was heterogeneous at the 15th position from the N-terminus. Comparing the primary structure of .beta.I chain with that of .beta.II chain, 4 amino acid exchanges were recognized. The primary structures of the .alpha. and .beta. chains of musk shrew Hb were compared with those of .alpha. and .beta. chains of human and European hedgehog Hb.