Chitin synthetase from the yeast and mycelial phases of Blastomyces dermatitidis.

Chitin synthetase (E.C.2.4.1.16) from mixed membrane fractions of the yeast and mycelial phases of Blastomyces dermatitidis were compared. The behavior of the enzyme from both phases was very similar: N-acetylglucosamine was stimulatory (Km 8.5 mM for yeast and 3.9 mM for mycelium); substrate Michaelis-Menten kinetics were sigmoidal; substrate Km of enzyme from yeast decreased from 3.0 mM at low N-acetylglucosamine (5 mM) levels to 1.4 mM at high (100 mM) levels; substrate Km of enzyme from mycelium was essentially unchanged at 1.4 mM; temperature optimum was 28 degrees C; pH optimum was 7-7.5; Mg+2 optimum was 5-10 mM. The greatest difference was that enzyme from yeast was extracted in a mostly latent form that required trypsin treatment for maximal in vitro activity while enzyme from mycelium was extracted in an active form which was rapidly deactivated by trypsin treatment.