6
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      The cellular basis of chitin synthesis in fungi and insects: common principles and differences.

      European Journal of Cell Biology
      Animals, Chitin, biosynthesis, Chitin Synthase, metabolism, Fungi, enzymology, Insects

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPubMed
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Chitin is a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, which assembles into microfibrils of about 20 sugar chains. These microfibrils serve as a structural component of natural biocomposites found in cell walls and specialized extracellular matrices such as cuticles and peritrophic membranes. Chitin synthesis is performed by a wide range of organisms including fungi and insects. The underlying biosynthetic machinery is highly conserved and involves several enzymes, of which the chitin synthase is the key enzyme. This membrane integral glycosyltransferase catalyzes the polymerization reaction. Most of what we know about chitin synthesis derives from studies of fungal and insect systems. In this review, common principles and differences will be worked out at the levels of gene organization, enzymatic properties, cellular localization and regulation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          21700357
          10.1016/j.ejcb.2011.04.014

          Animals,Chitin,biosynthesis,Chitin Synthase,metabolism,Fungi,enzymology,Insects

          Comments

          Comment on this article