Chapter 8

Chitinous Membranes and Analogous

Material

N. Chari, Sesha Srinivas Vutukuru, R. Saicharan, and A. Uma

Abstract Chitin is considered to be an important natural polymer with a long chain

of N-acetylglucosamine found in exoskeleton of insects and membranous wings.

Basic structure of insect integument with trichobothrium has been illustrated. Chitin

is common in Arthropoda (Exoskeleton). Resilin is a protein polymer having 620

amino acids. It is present at the wing joint and is four times more elastic than rubber.

Chitin and resilin have real importance in industry and biomedical applications.

Resilin can be regenerated by genetic engineering. Silk is an important natural raw

material for textiles. Silk fibre has 80% fibroin and 20% sericin. Sericulture is a

labour industry suited for rural areas in India. Spider silk can also be produced by

genetic engineering. Its bullet proof nature is a notable feature. Spider is included

for comparison of fibre with insect silk and for its unique elastic properties.

Keywords Chitin · Polymer · Resilin · Elastomere · Silk · Fibroin · Sericin ·

Genetic engineering

Introduction to Chitin

Chitin is considered to be the important natural polymer with a long chain of N-

acetylglucosamine which is a derivative of glucose. It is also considered to be the

second most important polymer in nature after cellulose and can be obtained as a

cheap renewable polymer from marine crustaceans, shrimps and crabs [1]. Chitin is

found in the cell walls of fungi, exoskeletons of arthropods and insects, radulae of

molluscs and internal shells of cephalopods. Reflective materials like (iridophores)

in the epidermis and the eyes of arthropods and cephalopods also contain chitin. It

N. Chari (B)

Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana, India

S. S. Vutukuru · R. Saicharan

SNIST, Hyderabad, India

A. Uma

Department of Bio-Technology, JNTUH, Hyderabad, India

e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

N. Chari et al. (eds.), Biophysics of Insect Flight, Springer Series in Biophysics 22,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5184-7_8

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