Chitin Biosynthesis Enhancement by the Endochitinase Inhibitor Allosamidin

Abstract
Membrane preparations of Artemia salina synthetize radiolabelled chitin from UDP-[U-14C]-GlcNAc at a low rate (Horst, M.N. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 1412-1419). We now report that, when the specific endochitinase inhibitor allosamidin is present in addition to the established activators trypsin and GlcNAc, incorporation of [U-14C]GlcNAc into chitin is increased up to 58-fold over the basic synthesis rate. thus, a greatly enhanced apparent chitin synthase activity is observed in membranes from an arthropod species when simultaneous degradation of chitin is inhibited.

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