Whale Rider: The Co-occurrence of Haemoglobin and Haemocyanin in Cyamus scammoni

Beatrice and Jonathan Wittenberg have inspired generations of scientists to explore the mysteries of heme proteins. Their papers on the high-affinity haemoglobins of Ascaris, a parasite living in the gut of a mammal, prompted discussions among Bob Terwilliger, Bob Garlick and the author in the 1970s, and led to investigations on numerous invertebrate myoglobins and haemoglobins in the Terwilliger laboratory. In this chapter, I review the structure and function of several of the outstanding molecules and their source organisms, including the haemoglobin and haemocyanin from Cyamus scammoni, the crustacean amphi-pod that rides on a whale. The presence of a high M w extracellular haemoglobin in this arthropod is the first report of haemoglobin expression in the more advanced crustaceans. The co-occurrence of haemoglobin and haemocyanin is also extremely unusual and unprecedented in the Arthropoda.