Liganded and unliganded forms of Antarctic fish haemoglobins in polyethylene glycol: crystallization of an R-state haemichrome intermediate

Liganded and unliganded forms of two Antarctic fish haemoglobins, from Trematomus newnesi and T. bernacchii, have been crystallized in low-salt media using polyethylene glycol as precipitant. In particular, crystals of air-exposed T. newnesi carbomonoxy haemoglobin were found to be isomorphous to the crystals grown in high-salt media. Preliminary X-ray analysis of the diffraction data revealed that the beta-haem iron of this haemoglobin is in the haemichrome state, with both the proximal and distal histidyl residues linked to the iron. This is the first crystallization of a haemichrome intermediate of a vertebrate haemoglobin.