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Related Experiment Videos

A respiratory hemocyanin from an insect.

Silke Hagner-Holler1, Axel Schoen, Wolfgang Erker

  • 1Institutes of Zoology and Molecular Biophysics, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|January 13, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Researchers discovered functional hemocyanin (an oxygen-transport protein) in the stonefly Perla marginata, challenging the long-held belief that insects do not use blood-based gas exchange.

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Area of Science:

  • Zoology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Insects typically rely on a tracheal system for oxygen transport.
  • Specialized oxygen-transport proteins in insect hemolymph were considered unnecessary.
  • The evolutionary loss of hemocyanin in insects was widely accepted.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the presence and function of hemocyanin in basal insect species.
  • To challenge the established paradigm regarding insect respiratory mechanisms.
  • To understand the evolutionary history of oxygen transport in insects.

Main Methods:

  • Identification and characterization of hemocyanin in the hemolymph of stonefly nymphs and adults.
  • Analysis of hemocyanin subunit composition and structure.

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  • Measurement of oxygen-binding properties, including oxygen affinity.

    • Main Results:

    • A functional, hexameric hemocyanin was identified in the stonefly Perla marginata.
    • This hemocyanin comprises two distinct subunits (659 and 655 amino acids).
    • The hemocyanin exhibits cooperative oxygen binding with a P(50) of approximately 8 torr.

    Conclusions:

    • Basal insects like stoneflies retain an ancestral blood-based gas exchange mechanism.
    • Hemocyanin appears to have been lost in more evolutionarily advanced holometabolan insects.
    • This finding necessitates a revision of the understanding of insect respiratory evolution.