Bovine haemoglobin βA Zebu, βA43(CD3)Ser Thr: an intermediate globin type between the βA and βD Zambia is present in Indian zebu cattle

Summary. Two bovine haemoglobin β chains, electrophoretically identical with the βA chain of Herefords, were obtained from Ongole and Banteng, Bos javanicus, cattle. The amino acid residue differences of the two β chains were compared by electrophoresis, cation-exchange and reverse-phase chromatography, amino acid analyses, and Edman degradation in comparison with βA chain. The results showed that two β chains differed from the βA chain of the Hereford breed by the substitution of serine with threonine at the β43 position. No other difference was found between the two chains and βA. This new β chain type was termed βA Zebu, which forms a possible evolutionarily transitional type between the βA and the rare variant βD Zambia found previously in African zebu cattle. The βA Zebu differentiates from the previous βB by at least four amino acid substitutions involving five codon-base changes.