...Nick Barts; Brian K. Trevelline; M. Denise Dearing; Rodolfo Martínez-Mota; Bret Pasch; Kevin D. Kohl Diet and host identity play fundamental roles in digestive physiology and the assembly of gut microbial communities. Research shows that microbial communities are plastic, with abundances of taxa...

... point to a carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) that co-opts VHA and CA from the phago-lysosomal machinery that ubiquitously mediates food digestion and innate immune responses. Analogous VHA-dependent CCMs have been previously described in reef-building corals, anemones and giant clams; however...

... the postprandial response of pythons – known as specific dynamic action – is supported by a concurrent increase in preferred temperature. The objective of this study was to determine whether hydration state influences digestion-related behavioral thermophily. Sixteen (8 male and 8 female) Children's pythons...

...Chris N. Glover; Alyssa M. Weinrauch ABSTRACT The hagfishes provide valuable insight into the physiology of feeding, digestion and nutrient absorption by virtue of unusual and unique features of their biology. For example, members of this group undergo long periods of fasting, and are the only...

... in enzyme activity supported. Digestion Gastrointestinal tract Ionoregulation Ion-poor water Metabolic enzymes Blind-ended digitations known as caeca are associated with the gastrointestinal tract of slightly more than half of known fish species ( Hossain and Dutta, 1996...

... needed for gastric acid secretion during digestion. This hypothesis is partially based on the unique crocodilian vascular anatomy where a left aorta (LAo) arises from the right ventricle, and appears to preferentially supply the gastrointestinal system, whereas the right aorta emerges from the left...

...Harvey B. Lillywhite ABSTRACT An important question related to the survival of dehydrating animals is whether feeding provides a net gain of water – contributing postprandial free water and metabolic water – or, alternatively, whether digestion and assimilation of ingested food incur a net loss...

... blood digestion. Only ingested proteins were able to trigger this abrupt increase in abdominal pH. The ingestion of amino acids, even at high concentrations, did not induce alkalinisation. During blood digestion, the thoracic midgut remains acidic, becoming a suitable compartment for carbohydrate...

...Michael W. Butler; Thomas J. Lutz; H. Bobby Fokidis; Zachary R. Stahlschmidt ABSTRACT While eating has substantial benefits in terms of both nutrient and energy acquisition, there are physiological costs associated with digesting and metabolizing a meal. Frequently, these costs have been documented...

... material. It has been hypothesized that physiological or microbial limitations may constrain the evolution of herbivory in lizards. Herbivorous lizards exhibit adaptations in digestive morphology and function that allow them to better assimilate plant material. However, it is unknown whether these traits...

... microbiome. Using six western grey kangaroos ( Macropus fuliginosus ) and four red kangaroos ( Macropus rufus ), we measured daily absolute CH 4 production in vivo as well as CH 4 yield (CH 4 per unit of intake of dry matter, gross energy or digestible fibre) by open-circuit respirometry. Two food intake...

...Alexander G. S. Jackson; Szu-Yun Leu; Neil B. Ford; James W. Hicks ABSTRACT Snakes exhibit large factorial increments in oxygen consumption during digestion and physical activity, and long-lasting sub-maximal increments during reproduction. Under natural conditions, all three physiological states...

... © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd 2015 Summary: The capacity of birds to hydrolyze glucosides and release toxins conjugated to sugars, which was uncertain, is shown to be low compared with that of rodents. Cytosolic β-glucosidase Digestion Enzyme Lactase phlorizin...

... of temperature from 30 to 40°C in the snake Python regius . of fasting snakes increased exponentially with temperature whereas of digesting snakes at high temperatures plateaued at a level 3- to 4-fold above fasting. The high and sustained aerobic metabolism over the entire temperature range was supported...

... response to digestion, though the triggers of this response are unknown. Here, we hypothesized that an O 2 supply–demand mismatch stimulates postprandial cardiac enlargement in Burmese pythons. To test this hypothesis, we rendered animals anemic prior to feeding, essentially halving blood oxygen content...

.... Often, especially in bacterial infections, loss of appetite and weight are pathologies caused by microbes, resulting from damage or dysfunction of the digestive system ( Shirasu-Hiza and Schneider, 2007 ; Ribeiro et al., 2009 ). The health of this organ system is an important indicator of homeostatic...

... digestive efficiency as locusts in which the GIT was not enlarged. Thus, plasticity of the GIT did not improve nutritional homeostasis, but increased the rate of nutrient uptake. * Author for correspondence ( [email protected] ) † Present address: Laboratory of Protein Synthesis...

... local midgut contraction, thus decreasing metabolic activity and increasing the time the food bolus remains in this region, allowing increased time for chemical digestion and the absorption of nutrients. This is in line with the suggestion that these peptides function as neurotransmitters...

... of animals, while behaviour determines which environments are encountered. Here, we identified changes in the behavioural selection of external salinity in Fundulus heteroclitus , an estuarine teleost, as a consequence of digesting a meal. Fish that consumed high levels of dietary calcium exhibited a higher...

... ); and an insectivorous bat, Kuhl’s pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus kuhlii ). Because these fleas are not known to occur on bats, we hypothesized that the fleas’ feeding performance (i.e. feeding and digestion rates) would be higher when feeding on their natural host than on either of the bats that they do not naturally...