Name: Process of Digestion
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 6 min 50 s
Description: This video discusses various steps involved in the digestive process. It highlights ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and egestion. It also gives an overview of organs associated with various digestive steps.

Question

A factor which adapts organisms to survive under low oxygen conditions is the presence of a substance in red blood cells called diphosphoglycerate (DPG). It affects the percentage saturation of hemoglobin as shown in the graph.

(a) Identify the effect of DPG on hemoglobin saturation.

Accepted Answer

Hemoglobin (Hb) molecule is the combination of protein globin and nonprotein portion called haem and is responsible for essentially transporting the oxygen in the blood. 2,3-DPG binds to a specific site in the β chain of Hb, and it decreases its oxygen affinity by shifting the balance of the so-called T and R conformations of the molecule. The higher the concentration of 2,3-DPG, the greater the partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂) needed to produce the same oxygen saturation of Hb. The ease with which haemoglobin releases oxygen to the tissues is controlled by erythrocytic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) such that an increase in the concentration of 2,3-DPG decreases oxygen affinity and vice versa and also decreases the hemoglobin saturation of oxygen.

A factor which adapts organisms to survive under low oxygen conditions is the presence of a substance in red blood cells called diphosphoglycerate (DPG). It affects the percentage saturation of hemoglobin as shown in the graph.

(a) Identify the effect of DPG on hemoglobin saturation.

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