Biochemical characterization of chitin synthase activity and inhibition in the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae.

ABSTRACT: Chitin synthase (CHS) is an important enzyme catalyzing the formation of chitin polymers in all chitin containing organisms and a potential target site for insect pest control. However, our understanding of biochemical properties of insect CHSs has been very limited. We here report enzymatic and inhibitory properties of CHS prepared from the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Our study, which represents the first time to use a nonradioactive method to assay CHS activity in an insect species, determined the optimal conditions for measuring the enzyme activity, including pH, temperature, and concentrations of the substrate uridine diphosphate N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) and Mg(++) . The optimal pH was about 6.5-7.0, and the highest activity was detected at temperatures betw

SUBMITTER: Zhang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3980569 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature