Structural characterization of the oxidation pathway of antarctic fish hemoglobins

The planarity of the peptide group is one of the fundamental features of protein structures. Several investigations on peptide bond distortions have been reported. Here we present a statistical survey of peptide plane deviations analyzed as a function of the local conformation of the backbone. By surveying a dataset of 163 nonhomologous protein chains, determined at atomic resolution, we have identified the stereochemical conditions that favor significant deformations of peptide bond planarity.