CAS Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266237, China.
Mar Drugs. 2021 Mar 15;19(3):153. doi: 10.3390/md19030153.
Chitin is among the most important components of the crustacean cuticular exoskeleton and intestinal peritrophic matrix. With the progress of genomics and sequencing technology, a large number of gene sequences related to chitin metabolism have been deposited in the GenBank database in recent years. Here, we summarized the genes and pathways associated with the biosynthesis and degradation of chitins in crustaceans based on genomic analyses. We found that chitin biosynthesis genes typically occur in single or two copies, whereas chitin degradation genes are all multiple copies. Moreover, the chitinase genes are significantly expanded in most crustacean genomes. The gene structure and expression pattern of these genes are similar to those of insects, albeit with some specific characteristics. Additionally, the potential applications of the chitin metabolism genes in molting regulation and immune defense, as well as industrial chitin degradation and production, are also summarized in this review.
几丁质是甲壳动物外骨骼和肠道围食膜的重要组成部分之一。随着基因组学和测序技术的进步，近年来大量与几丁质代谢相关的基因序列已被存入 GenBank 数据库。在这里，我们基于基因组分析总结了甲壳动物中几丁质生物合成和降解相关的基因和途径。我们发现，几丁质生物合成基因通常以单拷贝或双拷贝的形式存在，而几丁质降解基因都是多拷贝的。此外，几丁质酶基因在大多数甲壳动物基因组中显著扩张。这些基因的结构和表达模式与昆虫相似，但具有一些特定的特征。此外，本文还综述了几丁质代谢基因在蜕皮调节和免疫防御以及工业几丁质降解和生产方面的潜在应用。
