Arctic adaptation in reindeer The energy saving of a hemoglobin

• Published in: FEBS Letters
• Main Authors: Giardina, Bruno, Brix, Ole, Nuutinen, Matti, El Sherbini, Said, Bardgard, Astrid, Lazzarino, Giuseppe, Condò, Saverio G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1989
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0014-5793(89)81256-6; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1016%2F0014-5793%2889%2981256-6; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1016%2F0014-5793(89)81256-6; https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/0014-5793%2889%2981256-6

Previous results [(1988) Arct. Med. Res. 47, 83–88] have shown that hemoglobin from reindeer is characterized by a low overall heat of oxygenation. This particular aspect has been investigated further in a series of precise oxygen equilibrium experiments. The results obtained show a peculiar dependence of the temperature effect on the fractional saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen, which could be regarded as a very interesting case of molecular adaptation to extreme environmental conditions.