ABSTRACT
The general pathway of chitin synthesis is highly conserved from fungi to insects. It involves a defined number of enzymatic reactions that convert different sugars into polymers of β-GlcNAc-linked monosaccharides, with chitin synthase playing a major role. The chitin biosynthesis process starts intracellularly and ends by including chitin in exterior supra-macromolecular structures such as arthropod cuticles and fungi cell walls. Chitin synthases are delivered to the site of microfibril assembly at the cell’s surface by chitosomes, which are ubiquitous components of the cytoplasmic mechanism. The members of the chitin synthase have undergone diversification, and individual enzymes perform distinct and specific functions under normal growth conditions. Although the enzymological product of all chitin synthases is a homopolymer with only one type of linkage, individual chitin synthases can synthesize chitin fibrils of differing architecture, perhaps due to differences in the folding and hydrogen bonding of the primary chains.
