Immunochemical Relationships and Subunit Composition of Selected Molluscan Hemocyanins

Abstract

Among the molluscan hemocyanins that have been studied in this laboratory, the constituent subunits of a gastropod, the giant atlantic murex, Murex fulvescens and a cephalopod, the chambered nautilus, Nautilus pompilius have been isolated and characterized (1,2). In the first case, two electrophoretically-distinct subunits having different structural and functional properties were observed. In the latter case, three subunits with distinct oxygen binding characteristics were isolated. In this study we have used immunoelectrophoresis to determine the subunit composition of these hemocyanins and others whose self-assembly and oxygen binding properties have been studied. We have also investigated whether the immunochemical relationships follow phylogenetic relationships or some other structural or functional criteria.