Identification of Orthologous Hemocyanin Subunits in Scorpions : The First Step to Produce a Phylogenetic Tree Using Amino Acid Sequence Data

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Direct protein sequencing of the eight hemocyanin subunits from the scorpion Liocheles australasiae gave the N-terminal sequences for the first 16-41 amino acid residues. From sequence comparisons among L. australasiae hemocyanin subunits and between hemocyanin subunits from L. australasiae and Androctonus australis, it is deduced that duplications of two subunits occurred in the lineage of L. australasiae. From the N-terminal sequence comparison among hemocyanin subunits from L. australasiae, A. australis, and Buthus sindicus, it is inferred that at least one orthologous subunit derived from a common ancestor is shared among the three scorpions. Thus, N-terminal sequence analysis is regarded as a good method to identify orthologous subunits among many homologues between species.