Chitin synthetase activity and inhibition in different insect microsomal preparations

Summary To facilitate massive screening and for structure-activity relationship studies of chitin synthesis inhibitors, methods to obtain the chitin synthetase (CS) containing microsomal fraction from the postmitochondrial supernatant were examined. Compared with fractionation by differential centrifugation, the CaCl₂ precipitate yielded the most active CS preparation. Acidification (pH 5.6) and polyethylene glycol 8000 (5%) treatments resulted in relatively low CS activity. Inhibitory effects were detected with polyoxin-D and 1-geranyl-2-methyl benzimidazole, a novel CS inhibitor, but not with benzoylphenyl ureas.