| Title: | Protein-induced mass increase of the gastrointestinal tract of locusts improves net nutrient uptake via larger meals rather than more efficient nutrient absorption |
| Author(s): | Clissold FJ; Brown ZP; Simpson SJ; |
| Address: | "School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. fiona.clissold@sydney.edu.au" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1477-9145 (Electronic) 0022-0949 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Increasing the tissue biomass and/or volume of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is commonly seen when animals feed on poor-quality diets. This increase can simply permit larger meal sizes, but may also rebalance nutritionally imbalanced ingesta by allowing selective absorption of limiting nutrients. In an insect herbivore, the migratory locust, a synthetic diet with a high ratio of protein to carbohydrate was found to induce mass enhancement of the GIT. When normalised for sex and overall body size, increases to the mass of the foregut and midgut caeca resulted in higher absorption (20-30%) of both protein and carbohydrate when subsequently feeding on three chemically and structurally different grasses. Greater net absorption of macronutrients occurred because these locusts ate larger meals that transited at the same time and with the same 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" |
| Keywords: | *Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena Animals Body Size Dietary Proteins/*metabolism Feeding Behavior Female Gastrointestinal Tract/anatomy & histology/physiology Grasshoppers/anatomy & histology/*physiology Male Poaceae/chemistry; |
| Notes: | "MedlineClissold, Fiona J Brown, Zuben P Simpson, Stephen J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2012/09/22 J Exp Biol. 2013 Jan 15; 216(Pt 2):329-37. doi: 10.1242/jeb.076489. Epub 2012 Sep 20" |
