Biosynthesis of cat hemoglobins: translation of poly(A)-RNA from animals of various HbA/HbB phenotypes.

The molecular basis for the genetic control of variable proportions of the two hemoglobins in domestic cat blood was investigated. Both major hemoglobins of cat blood, HbA (alpha 2 beta A2) and HbB (alpha 2 beta B2), were synthesized in an mRNA-dependent rabbit reticulocyte system using poly(A)-RNA from cat reticulocyte polysomes as the source of the message. The relative amounts of HbA and HbB synthesized in the system were a function of the HbA/HbB phenotype of the cat from which the reticulocytes and poly(A)-RNA were obtained. Higher ratios of HbA/HbB synthesis were found when the source of poly(A)-RNA was the polysomes from a 90/10 (HbA/HbB) phenotype than when it was from a 50/50 (HbA/HbB) phenotype. These results indicate that the variable proportions of HbA and HbB found in the blood of different members of the cat population result from the genetic control of the relative amounts of functional beta A and beta B mRNA.