Abstract
LITTLE information has been published on the biosynthesis of chit in insects despite the fact that this polymer is an important constituent of the exoskeleton1. Glaser and Brown2 demonstrated the presence of a particulate enzyme in Neurospora crassa that catalysed the synthesis of chitin from uridine diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine (UDPAG) labelled with carbon-14. They demonstrated that chitin formation occurred by the transfer of N-acetylglucosamine from UDPAG to a chitodextrin fraction used as a primer. Recently, Candy and Kilby3 reported investigations on the synthesis of chitin in the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria). Their work indicated a rapid increase in the formation of chitin during and immediately after the moult of the 5th instar larvæ. Similar patterns were found using the thorax, abdomen, and hind leg of the locust. Chitin formation in the wings of the locust was investigated also and dramatic increases in chitin content were found as the locust matured into its adult stage. In the comprehensive work of Candy and Kilby, the presence of enzymes leading to the formation of UDPAG was established unequivocally. They were unable, however, to demonstrate the conversion of 14C-UDPAG into chitcin. Developmental investigations at present being made in our laboratories have indicated that chitin synthetase is present in cell-free extracts of Prodenia eridania, and the results of the preliminary work are reported here.
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References
Wigglesworth, V. B., Principles of Insect Physiology (Methuea, London, 1963).
Glaser, L., and Brown, D. H., J. Biol. Chem., 228, 729 (1957).
Candy, D. J., and Kilby, B. A., J. Exp. Biol., 39, 129 (1962).
Kinard, F. E., Rev. Sci. Instr., 28, 293 (1957).
Carpenter, W. D., and Jaworski, E. G., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 58, 369 (1962).
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JAWORSKI, E., WANG, L. & MARCO, G. Synthesis of Chitin in Cell-free Extracts of Prodenia eridania. Nature 198, 790 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/198790a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/198790a0
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