Team:Northwestern/Project/Chitin Synthesis

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Chitin is an abundant biopolymer found primarily in the exoskeletons of arthropods, including many insects and crustaceans. Composed of N-acetylglucosamine monomers (Figure 1), it functions analogously to keratin in mammalian skin, providing a support matrix for the protective outer surface of these animals. Similarly, most fungi produce chitin in their cell walls for structural support and chitin production depends on a series of enzymatic steps, shown below (Figure 2).

Figure 1 Chitin molecular structure.
Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin Wikipedia - Chitin]

Chitin Synthase 3 (CHS3) was cloned out of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (S.C.) cDNA.

CHS3 from S.C. was chosen because the the protein does not require cofactors or activation factors and also because it was determined to be the most active of the Chitin Synthase family.

Chitin Synthase polymerizes N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine, also known as Chitin, with substrate as UDP-N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine.

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-Chitin is an abundant biopolymer found primarily in the exoskeletons of arthropods, including many insects and crustaceans. It is composed of N-acetylglucosamine monomers (Fig. 1)
-[[image:chitin_wikipedia.png|frame|center|alt=alt text|'''Figure 1''' Chitin molecular structure. <br /> Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin  Wikipedia - Chitin]]] <br />
+Chitin is an abundant biopolymer found primarily in the exoskeletons of arthropods, including many insects and crustaceans. Composed of N-acetylglucosamine monomers (Figure 1), it functions analogously to keratin in mammalian skin, providing a support matrix for the protective outer surface of these animals. Similarly, most fungi produce chitin in their cell walls for structural support and chitin production depends on a series of enzymatic steps, shown below (Figure 2).
+[[image:chitin_wikipedia.png|frame|right|alt=alt text|'''Figure 1''' Chitin molecular structure. <br /> Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin  Wikipedia - Chitin]]] <br />
-- chitin - what is it, how is it used in nature
-- The production of chitin in yeast, pathway, mechanism
 Chitin Synthase 3 (CHS3) was cloned out of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (S.C.) cDNA.