Chitin Synthases in Fungi: A Comprehensive Review of Classification, Catalytic Mechanism, and Functional Roles

Fungi contain the most complex chitin synthase family, which contributes to chitin biosynthesis and cell wall rigidity. In the past decades, their functions involved in morphological diversity, viability, and virulence of fungi have been well investigated using typical molecular methods such as gene knockout or gene silence, which seems to give a simple aspect of their comprehensive roles. The present review summarized the comprehensive advances of chitin synthases including their classification, their precise structures including catalytic and noncatalytic protein domains, the catalytic mechanisms of chitin biosynthesis and translocation, and roles in cell wall formation, cell separation, and cell viability to provide the references for understanding and guiding the discovery of the novel antifungal drugs targeting the chitin synthases according to their structural basis to offer significant effects and lower resistance development.