We investigated the molecular basis of hypofibrinogenemia in a woman with a plasma fibrinogen of 1.0 mg/mL. After sequencing the coding region and intronic boundaries of all three fibrinogen genes a single heterozygous GAC-->TAC mutation was identified at codon 316 of the Bbeta gene. This Asp-->Tyr substitution segregated with the hypofibrinogenemia in the only other affected family member. Examination by SDS-PAGE, isoelectric focussing, reverse phase chromatography and electrospray ionisation (ESI) mass spectrometery, failed to detect expression of the new Bbeta chain in purified plasma fibrinogen. The absence of the variant chain was confirmed by ESI tryptic mapping; while the [M + 1 H] and [M + 2 H] ions of the affected peptide (MGPTELLIEMEDWK) were clearly visible at 1,692 and 847 m/z, there were no new signals (1,741 or 871 m/z) that would at indicate expression of the variant in plasma. Asp 316 and its gamma chain homologue (Asp 252) are conserved in all known species and this is the first report of a mutation at either of these. The residue appears to be critical in maintaining the structure of the five stranded sheet that forms the dominant structural feature of the D domains.