Summary
Loricariichthys sp., an air-breathing fish from the Amazon River has one major hemoglobin component. Quantitative studies on the kinetics of O2 dissociation and CO combination to the protein were performed by stopped-flow experiments at different pH values and a constant ATP concentration of 1.25 mM. The oxygen dissociation shows a simple first order behavior and a strong pH dependence. The CO combination kinetics, on the other hand, were homogeneous and fast at higher pH values and slow and clearly autocatalytic at pH values below 7.0.