Chitin synthase genes in Manduca sexta: characterization of a gut-specific transcript and differential tissue expression of alternately spliced mRNAs during development

Identification of Chitin in the Prismatic Layer of the Shell and a Chitin Synthase Gene from the Japanese Pearl Oyster,Pinctada fucata

“…The chitin synthases are phylogenetically divided into the insect group, the nematode group, and the fungal group. 35,36) The mollusk chitin synthase group including PfCHS1 and ArCHS1 is separated from other chitin synthase groups to make an independent cluster. This position of PfCHS1 is consistent with the evolutionary position of mollusks.…”

A chymotrypsin-like serine protease interacts with the chitin synthase from the midgut of the tobacco hornworm

“…In contrast, only two genes, CHS1 and CHS2, encode chitin synthases in insects (Merzendorfer, 2006). As reported for Manduca sexta and Tribolium castaneum, CHS1 is exclusively expressed in the epidermis and the tracheal system while CHS2 is expressed only by midgut columnar cells, where chitin is produced as a component of the peritrophic matrix protecting the epithelium from mechanical damage, radical oxygen species and infectious microorganisms Barbehenn and Stannard, 2004;Hogenkamp et al, 2005;Lehane, 1997;Zimoch et al, 2005). The expression of insect chitin synthase genes is differentially regulated during development.…”

Cloning and sequence analysis of chitin synthase gene fragments of Demodex mites

“…The former is mainly responsible for the chitin synthesis of cuticle and trachea, and the latter for the formation of peritrophic matrix in midgut (Hogenkamp et al, 2005). In this study, the alignments demonstrated that the insect CHS genes with high identities were all CHA, and thus the obtained Demodex CHS gene fragments could be deduced to be CHA, related with chitin synthesis of body wall in Demodex mites.…”

“…The literature on insect chitin synthases (CHSs) has just started in the recent decade, later than that on insect chitin catabolic enzymes. The genes or cDNAs of CHSs were isolated and identified from Lucilia cuprina (Tellam et al, 2000), Drosophila metamorphosis (Gagou et al, 2002), Aedes aegypti (Ibrahim et al, 2000), Anopheles gambiae (Hogenkamp et al, 2005), Anopheles quadrimaculatus (Zhang and Zhu, 2006), Manduca sexta (Zhu et al, 2002;Hogenkamp et al, 2005), Spodoptera frugiperda (Hogenkamp et al, 2005), Spodoptera exigua (Chen et al, 2007;Kumar et al, 2008), Mamestra brassicae (Piao and Fan, 2008), Choristoneura fumiferana (Ampasala et al, 2011), Tribolium castaneum (Arakane et al, 2004), and Ostrinia furnacalis (Qu et al, 2011) in Insecta, and Boophilus microplus (Tellam et al, 2000) in Arachnida, yet few CHS genes of Acariformes are available.…”