Primary structure of apovitellenin I from hen egg yolk and its comparison with emu apovitellenin I.

The amino acid sequence of apovitellenin I from hen egg yolk has been determined using both automatic and manual procedures; it comprises 82 residues. Hen apovitellenin shows considerable homology with emu apovitellenin I which contains 84 residues. Besides two deletions in the sequence, the hen protein differs in 28 positions from the emu protein; 26 of these positions may have arisen from single base changes. The changes are largely conservative ones, which suggest that the structure and function have been preserved despite extensive mutation.