Unexpected Distribution of Chitin and Chitin Synthase across Soft-Bodied Cnidarians.

ABSTRACT: Cnidarians are commonly recognized as sea jellies, corals, or complex colonies such as the Portuguese man-of-war. While some cnidarians possess rigid internal calcareous skeletons (e.g., corals), many are soft-bodied. Intriguingly, genes coding for the chitin-biosynthetic enzyme, chitin synthase (CHS), were recently identified in the model anemone Nematostella vectensis, a species lacking hard structures. Here we report the prevalence and diversity of CHS across Cnidaria and show that cnidarian chitin synthase genes display diverse protein domain organizations. We found that CHS is expressed in cnidarian species and/or developmental stages with no reported chitinous or rigid morphological structures. Chitin affinity histochemistry indicates that chitin is

SUBMITTER: Vandepas LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10216261 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature