黑腹绒鼠消化道长度和重量的季节变化

能量获得与分配的效率和速率是决定动物能量收支的主要因子,对于动物的生存和繁殖是至关重要的（Karasov, 1986;Weiner,1992）.动物的消化道容纳和处理食物的能力,以及消化和吸收营养物质的能力是限制其能量收支的重要因素,也是理解生活史进化和最优资源分配理论的关键（Derting and Bogue,1993;Derting and Noakes,1995）.     

高原鼢鼠的消化对策

动物面临不同的生活环境及生活方式,往往采取不同的消化对策,而消化道结构在动物的消化对策中起关键作用。为进一步了解高原鼢鼠的生存对策,比较了高原鼢鼠与大白鼠消化道形态结构与食物摄入量、食物吸收量及食物消化率的差异。结果表明:高原鼢鼠的食物摄入量及食物吸收量显著低于大白鼠,食物消化率、蛋白质消化率及粗纤维消化率显著高于大白鼠。而两种动物的蛋白质吸收量及粗纤维吸收量差异不显著。高原鼢鼠的胃、小肠、大肠、盲肠干重及大肠长度与盲肠长度显著高于大白鼠,小肠长度差异不显著。可见,动物的消化率及能量需求与其消化道形态相适应。高原鼢鼠采取摄取少量的食物、增加消化道长度或重量、提高食物消化率的消化对策。     

不同森林类型中社鼠食性和消化道形态变化

能量的获取能力、分配速率和效率对动物的生存繁衍起着至关重要的作用(王德华和王祖望,2000;刘艳华等,2004),消化道作为储藏和处理食物及吸收能量的场所,其形态学和生理学决定着动物对营养物质和能量的吸收(汪晓琳等,2007;朱万龙等,2009).在面对外界环境变化带来的各种压力和胁迫下,小型哺乳动物的消化道各器官常常会产生不同程度的响应(Derting and Noakes,1995;张志强和王德华,2009).     

组学视角下养殖动物消化道微生物组结构与功能研究进展北大核心

养殖动物消化道中含有大量的微生物,不仅参与动物对营养物质的消化和吸收,还对宿主生长发育及免疫起重要调节作用。动物消化道微生物组研究是目前国内外的热点领域,取得了一系列重要研究进展。深入了解养殖动物消化道微生物组的结构与功能,将为今后调控和应用消化道微生物、提高动物生产性能、改善动物胃肠道健康和实现绿色健康养殖奠定理论基础。本文以4种代表性养殖动物(牛、羊、猪和鸡)为主体,对组学视角下其消化道微生物群落结构、功能等研究进展进行总结和分析;并对未来研究方向进行展望。     

小鼠肠道组织结构在低温环境下的适应性调整

对长期(3个月)处于低温条件下的小鼠各肠道组织结构的适应性变化进行了比较研究。低温驯化后小鼠的体重(P0.05)、消化道总长度(P0.05)、小肠长度(P0.01)和盲肠长度(P0.05)显著增加,而十二指肠肠腔隙截面积未发生显著变化,提示小鼠的肠腔隙体积在低温环境下明显增加。同时,低温驯化小鼠十二指肠的肠道和肠壁组织截面积均显著降低(P0.05),而其绒毛高则显著增加(P0.001),提示其黏膜层厚度增加,而黏膜下层结构趋于萎缩,表明小鼠肠道组织的形态结构为应对低温条件已经产生了适应性调整,即通过增加消化道的长度和营养物质的吸收面积来增加食物摄取量、食物吸收速率和吸收效率等,进而满足低温条件下小鼠能量需求的增加。相比之下,低温鼠的胃大小、盲肠重量、大肠长度与重量、直肠组织结构均未产生显著变化,暗示这些肠道结构对外界温度变化的敏感性相对较低。研究结果表明,小型哺乳类主要通过增大消化道长度和吸收面积来提高其消化效率,通过改变消化道的形态和结构来提高消化和吸收效率,以便更好地去适应环境温度变化而导致的能量需求变化。     

食物在贻贝棘尾虫(原生动物,纤毛虫)细胞内的消化过程

利用免疫荧光显微术、透射电镜及电镜酶细胞化学技术对食物在腹毛类纤毛虫-- 贻贝棘尾虫细胞内的消化过程进行了追踪观察.食物在进入消化腔隙的初期,外面包被着一层膜结构,但此外层膜很快被消化而消失;尔后食物在贻贝棘尾虫体内的消化过程可分为两种方式:一种方式为直接在消化腔隙内完成,此过程同1982年Kaul et al.和Das s et al.的报道;而另一部分食物的消化过程表现为食物逐步向细胞质内突入,以致最终完全被细胞质包围形成一被膜包裹的圆泡状结构;在此过程中,细胞质边缘突出众多含有酸性磷酸酶等物质的小囊泡结构,小囊泡与食物融合,其内的酸性磷酸酶等水解酶释放出来, 食物的表膜逐渐瓦解,个体逐渐变小,最终消化后的营养物质被释放到细胞的消化腔隙内; 这种食物通过胞口与胞咽达消化腔隙后,再由细胞质将其包裹形成的食物泡,我们称之为" 后成食物泡".这两种消化方式与贻贝棘尾虫的消化胞器为一腔隙结构相适应[动物学报 5 4(3):510-516,2008].     

草食性小型哺乳动物的食粪行为

食粪行为广泛存在于草食性中小型哺乳动物中,是特指动物取食由盲肠内容物所形成的粪便的行为。这些动物具有特殊的结肠分离机制,能够产生两种不同的粪便。食粪行为延长了食物在消化道中的平均滞留时间;提高了对高纤维食物的消化率;弥补了食物中氨基酸和维生素的缺乏,满足了动物对这些营养物质的需求;是动物消化过程中的一个特殊组成部分。食粪行为的节律性是动物对取食和食粪的风险权衡的结果。食粪行为的发展是与动物草食性的特点紧密相关的,是动物对身体较小、食物质量低和天敌威胁等不利因素适应的结果。本对这些方面的研究进展进行了综述。     

洞庭湖区社鼠消化道长度和质量的季节变化

对洞庭湖区社鼠（Niviventer confucianus）自然种群四季的消化道各器官的长度和质量进行了测定。结果表明。消化道指标季节变化明显。总体消化道含内容鲜质量、净鲜质量与干质量均具有显著的季节变化。以冬、春季较高。夏、秋季较低。消化道各器官的变化与总消化道不尽相同。其中,以胃的变化相对比较稳定。仅长度的变化达显著水平,以冬季最短,夏、秋季较长。这是动物为适应繁殖季节能量需求而增加摄食量的反应,也与夏秋季食物丰富度有关。小肠、盲肠、大肠的长度和质量指标（内容鲜质量、净鲜质量和干质量）以冬、春季较高。夏、秋季较低。这是该鼠对冬、春季低温和食物匮乏的适应性反应。总体来说。洞庭湖区社鼠为适应夏、秋季繁殖盛期能量需求增加的主要对策是增加摄食量;而为适应冬、春季低温环境和食物数量和质量减少的主要对策是增大消化道。提高消化效率。     

高纤维食物对黄毛鼠摄食和消化的影响

动物的消化生理特征和消化对策可决定其营养生态位。为揭示黄毛鼠适应高纤维食物的消化对策,在高纤维食物饲喂10 d和20 d时,以食物平衡法测定摄食量、粪便量及相应的能量学参数。在取食高纤维食物10 d时,摄食量无显著变化,但粪便量显著增加,消化率显著下降;至20 d时,摄食量显著增加,消化率仍低于对照组,但消化能与对照组无差异。高纤维组动物的体重在第10 d时显著下降,但在第20 d时未进一步下降。该结果表明,黄毛鼠能够通过增加摄食量和降低消化率的消化对策适应高纤维食物,此外,降低体重使总能量需求减少,也是其适应低质量食物的对策之一。     

食物类型对红耳滑龟幼体摄食特殊热动力作用的影响

动物通过摄食获得能量,消耗的能量主要用于基础(或标准)代谢、摄食、体温调节、运动和生长等(Bartholomew ,1 977)。食物消化、同化过程中代谢率(耗氧量)显著增加,这种增加与动物正在进行的其它活动无关,其热效应被称为特殊热动力作用(Specificdynamicaction ,SDA )或热增(Heat     

小型食草动物的结肠分离机制及其食粪行为

根据食草动物发酵部位的不同 ,动物对食物的消化方式一般分为前肠发酵和后肠发酵 ,这些动物分别称为前肠发酵动物和后肠发酵动物。大型后肠发酵动物 (体重 >2 5ｋｇ)的主要发酵部位是前结肠 ,Ｈｕｍｅ和Ｗａｒｎｅｒ[12 ] 称之为“结肠发酵动物” ;小型后肠发酵动物 (体重 <10ｋｇ)的主要发酵部位是盲肠 ,称之为“盲肠发酵动物”[12 ] 。多数食草动物都不能依靠自身的消化酶完全消化纤维食物 ,而植物的大部分结构和营养贮存部位都含有大量的纤维素和半纤维素 ,动物自身不易消化这些化合物 ,只能通过与某些微生物 (细菌、真菌等 )共生 ,使得…     

Reactor design for large scale suspension animal cell culture

The scale of operation of freely suspended animal cell culture has been increasing and in order to meet the demand for recombinant therapeutic products, this increase is likely to continue. The most common reactor types used are stirred tanks. Air lift fermenters are also used, albeit less commonly. No specific guidelines have been published for large scale (≥10 000 L) animal cell culture and reactor designs are often based on those used for microbial systems. However, due to the large difference in energy inputs used for microbial and animal cell systems such designs may be far from optimal. In this review the importance of achieving a balance between mixing, mass transfer and shear effects is emphasised. The implications that meeting this balance has on design of vessels and operation, particularly in terms of strategies to ensure adequate mixing to achieve homogeneity in pH and dissolved gas concentrations are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

More than one way to be an herbivore: convergent evolution of herbivory using different digestive strategies in prickleback fishes (Stichaeidae)

In fishes, the evolution of herbivory has occured within a spectrum of digestive strategies, with two extremes on opposite ends: (i) a rate-maximization strategy characterized by high intake, rapid throughput of food through the gut, and little reliance on microbial digestion or (ii) a yield-maximization strategy characterized by measured intake, slower transit of food through the gut, and more of a reliance on microbial digestion in the hindgut. One of these strategies tends to be favored within a given clade of fishes. Here, we tested the hypothesis that rate or yield digestive strategies can arise in convergently evolved herbivores within a given lineage. In the family Stichaeidae, convergent evolution of herbivory occured in Cebidichthys violaceus and Xiphister mucosus, and despite nearly identical diets, these two species have different digestive physiologies. We found that C. violaceus has more digesta in its distal intestine than other gut regions, has comparatively high concentrations (>11 mM) of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA, the endpoints of microbial fermentation) in its distal intestine, and a spike in β-glucosidase activity in this gut region, findings that, when coupled to long retention times (>20 h) of food in the guts of C. violaceus, suggest a yield-maximizing strategy in this species. X. mucosus showed none of these features and was more similar to its sister taxon, the omnivorous Xiphister atropurpureus, in terms of digestive enzyme activities, gut content partitioning, and concentrations of SCFA in their distal intestines. We also contrasted these herbivores and omnivores with other sympatric stichaeid fishes, Phytichthys chirus (omnivore) and Anoplarchus purpurescens (carnivore), each of which had digestive physiologies consistent with the consumption of animal material. This study shows that rate- and yield-maximizing strategies can evolve in closely related fishes and suggests that resource partitioning can play out on the level of digestive physiology in sympatric, closely related herbivores.     

Flexibility of digestive responses in two generalist herbivores,the tortoises Geochelone carbonaria and Geochelone denticulata

Summary To test the prediction that digestive responses digestibility, intake and passage time-of generalist herbivores vary with different diets, feeding trials were conducted in Venezuela with two sympatric tortoise species, Geochelone carbonaria and G. denticulata. Three single-species diets (two fruit, one foliage) were fed to both species. For a given diet, digestibility, mass-specific intake and passage time did not differ between the two tortoise species, nor did they vary by sex or body mass within each species. However, the digestive parameters varied for tortoises feeding on the different diets. The responses ranged from nearly abandoning cell wall fermentation and depending entirely on extraction of cell contents to relying heavily on cell wall fermentation. Therefore, these generalist herbivores have flexible digestive responses that are influenced by diet, not fixed digestive responses that limit the diet, as previously observed in other generalist herbivores. A three-part classification of herbivores (specialist, specialized mixed feeder and opportunistic mixed feeder) is suggested as an approach to understanding flexible and inflexible digestive strategies in herbivores.     

The digestive performance of mammalian herbivores: why big may not be that much better

1. A traditional approach to the nutritional ecology of herbivores is that larger animals can tolerate a diet of lesser quality due to a higher digestive efficiency bestowed on them by comparatively long ingesta retention times and lower relative energy requirements. 2. There are important physiological disadvantages that larger animals must compensate for, namely a lower gut surface : gut volume ratio, larger ingesta particle size and greater losses of faecal bacterial material due to more fermentation. Compensating adaptations could include an increased surface enlargement in larger animals, increased absorption rates per unit of gut surface, and increased gut motility to enhance mixing of ingesta. 3. A lower surface : volume ratio, particularly in sacciform forestomach structures, could be a reason for the fact that methane production is of significant scope mainly in large herbivores and not in small herbivores with comparably long retention times; in the latter, the substrate for methanogenesis – the volatile fatty acids – could be absorbed faster due to a more favourable gut surface : volume ratio. 4. Existing data suggest that in herbivores, an increase in fibre digestibility is not necessarily accompanied by an increase in overall apparent dry matter digestibility. This indicates a comparative decrease of the apparent digestibility of non-fibre material, either due to a lesser utilization of non-fibre substrate or an increased loss of endogenous/bacterial substance. Quantitative research on these mechanisms is warranted in order to evaluate whether an increase in body size represents a net increase of digestive efficiency or just a shift of digestive focus.     

Digesta retention time in the Galápagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra)

The retention time of food in the digestive tract of animals has important implications for digestive physiology. Retention time impacts digestive efficiency and among herbivores affects plant–animal interactions including herbivory and seed dispersal. Poorly studied yet iconic Galápagos tortoises are large-bodied generalist herbivores and ecosystem engineers which migrate seasonally. Potentially variable digesta retention times due to strong seasonal and altitudinal temperature gradients may influence tortoise seed dispersal abilities and rates of herbivory. We fed captive adult tortoises living in semi-natural conditions on Galápagos with inert particles and seeds from locally available fruits to determine whether seed size and ambient temperature influenced retention time. Median retention time varied from 6 to 28 days, with a mode of 12 days. Seed size had no effect on any of our measures of retention time, but ambient temperature was inversely correlated with retention times. Long retention time facilitates long distance seed dispersal by Galápagos tortoises, which may improve effectiveness. The effect of temperature, which may double from hot lowlands to cold highlands through the seasonal cycle, on tortoise digesta retention time will strongly influence seed dispersal efficiency and may influence patterns of food selection and migration in this species.     

The role of natural plant products in modulating the immune system: An adaptable approach for combating disease in grazing animals

Plants provide herbivores with an array of chemicals with the potential to improve health and well-being. For instance, phytochemicals, known as secondary compounds, which protect plants from consumers and pests can adversely affect cellular and metabolic processes in herbivores, but at low doses and in appropriate mixtures, they can have beneficial effects on animal nutrition and health, though the latter has not been explored in great breadth or depth. In this review, we summarize the potential impact of natural plant products on immunomodulation and other therapeutic effects in herbivores. Development of preventative strategies to help animals resist disease would be a more economical, ecological and socially effective long-term healthcare strategy than treating diseases. In this realm, immunomodulation promoted by forages emerges as an interesting alternative and complement to chemotherapy. The challenge for feeding systems will be to incorporate mixes of plants with bioactive properties in ways that enhance health without compromising animal production and well-being. A solution to this challenge may involve developing management programs that acknowledge the ability of animals to learn about the beneficial effects of diverse foods.     

植物对植食性哺乳动物的化学防卫

综述植物次生合物防卫植食性哺乳动物食的研究进展,植物组织的次生化合物主要为酚类、萜类及含N类化合物,植物对动物觅食的化学防卫对策以次生化合物的各类而有差异,次生化合物通过对动物的食物摄入、消化、代谢,以及敏殖活动的效应,以抵御动物的觅食。将植物化学防卫与动物适应对策相结合,探讨动物－植物协同进化模式,是该研究领域的主要发展趋势。     

Optimal foraging and community structure: The allometry of herbivore food selection and competition

I address the selection of plants with different characteristics by herbivores of different body sizes by incorporating allometric relationships for herbivore foraging into optimal foraging models developed for herbivores. Herbivores may use two criteria in maximizing their nutritional intake when confronted with a range of food resources: a minimum digestibility and a minimum cropping rate. Minimum digestibility should depend on plant chemical characteristics and minimum cropping rate should depend on the density of plant items and their size (mass). If herbivores do select for these plant characteristics, then herbivores of different body sizes should select different ranges of these characteristics due to allometric relationships in digestive physiology, cropping ability and nutritional demands. This selectivity follows a regular pattern such that a herbivore of each body size can exclusively utilize some plants, while it must share other plants with herbivores of other body sizes. I empirically test this hypothesis of herbivore diet selectivity and the pattern of resource use that it produces in the field and experimentally. The findings have important implications for competition among herbivores and their population and community ecology. Furthermore, the results may have general applicability to other types of foragers, with general implications for how biodiversity is influenced.     

哺乳动物的消化策略（英文）

理解动物的营养生态位是充分理解其整个生态学的基础,对于害兽控制和物种保护也很重要,食肉动物的小肠很发达,这可能与对食物的高消化能力有关;杂食性动物有更复杂的胃肠器官,其后端有可进行发酵的盲肠,消化物的平均滞留时间（mean retention times,MRTs)更长;最长的平均滞留时间见于食草动物,其消化道内高密度的微生物种群对不同滞留区内的消化物进行发酵,但是,并不是所有的食草动物都能够最大程度地消化植物纤维,只有反刍动物、骆驼和个体较大的后肠发酵动物（hindgut fermenter)能够具有这种能力,对比而言,许多其它的食草动物,如前肠发酵的有袋类和小型的后肠发酵动物如兔子、田鼠和负鼠等,它们具备可以使植物纤维消化效率最大的消化系统,可以在食物中的纤维素含量非常高的情况下仍能处理大量的食物。这些不同的消化策略使哺乳动物具有广幅的营养生态位。