Animal Nutrition and digestion

An animals diet must

provide
Chemical energy for cellular processes ATP
Organic building blocks for macromolecules
* Carbon
Essential nutrients

Essential Nutrients
Criteria to be an Essential nutrient:
1. They must be essential to the health
2. They can not be synthesized by the body
These must be obtained from an animals diet
There are four classes
Essential amino acids
Essential fatty acids
Vitamins
Minerals

Essential Amino Acids

Animals require 20 amino acids and can
synthesize about half from molecules in
their diet
The remaining amino acids, the essential
amino acids, must be obtained from food
in preassembled form
Meat, eggs, and cheese provide all the
essential amino acids and are thus
complete proteins

Figure 5.16a
Figure 5.16a

Lysine
(Lys or K)

Methionine
(Met or M)

Essential Amino Acids

Valine
(Val or V)

Phenylalanine
(Phe or F)

Leucine
(Leu or L)

Tryptophan
(Trp or W)

Isoleucine
(Ile or I)

Threonine
(Thr or T)

Essential Fatty Acids

Animals can synthesize most of the fatty
acids they need
The essential fatty acids must be
obtained from the diet and include certain
unsaturated fatty acids (i.e., fatty acids
with one or more double bonds)
Deficiencies in fatty acids are rare

What is a fatty acid?

Because of the
kinks when
double bonds
are present,
unsaturated fats
do not pack
close together
and are
therefore liquid
at room
- Animals do not produce unsaturated
fats,
temperature
and therefore must obtain them
from the diet.
- Unsaturated fatty acids are acquired by
ingesting oils produced in plants. (olive

Saturated Fatty Acid are

a Solid at Room
Temperature:

Unsaturated Fatty Acids are liquid

at Room Temperature:

Vitamins
Vitamins are organic molecules required
in the diet in very small amounts
Vitamins are grouped into two categories:
fat-soluble and water-soluble
Importance: needed for coenzymes, and
for production of cellular proteins, nucleic
acids, and other cell processes.

Excess Water-soluble vitamins are not

stored in the body, therefore not toxic in
excess

Table 41.1

Excess Fat-soluble vitamins are

stored in adipose fat, and
therefore subject to toxicity
Dietary Source

major function in body

symptoms of defic

Minerals
Minerals are simple inorganic nutrients,
usually required in small amounts
Ingesting large amounts of some minerals,
such as NaCl, can upset homeostatic
balance
Sodium, potassium and chloride are
needed for nerve function, where
they are important for the
establishment of membrane potential

Table 41.2

Example of roles of Essential Nutrients

Essential Mineral
Essential vitamin
Gly
Ile

Iron

Vitamin B3

Leu
Phe

NADH

Phe
Tyr

ESSENTIAL
AMINO ACIDS

Glu

Phospholipids
Fatty acid desaturase

Linoleic acid

Essential Fatty Acid

-Linoleic acid

Prostaglandins

Anemia
Reduced red blood count due to diet
deficient in iron, folate (B9) and/or
B12

Scurvy
Degeneration of skin and teeth
Due to lack of Vitamin C

Ingestion and digestion

The taking in and breaking down of
nutrients
Differs with the species

Intracellular digestion,
Breaking down of food inside of cell
food particles are engulfed by phagocytosis
- Food vacuoles, containing food, fuse with lysosomes
containing hydrolytic enzymes

Simple organisms have a gastrovascular

cavity
gastrovascular cavity
functions in both
digestion and
distribution of nutrients

Mouth
Tentacles

1 Digestive enzymes

Food

are released from a

gland cell.
2 Enzymes break

food down into small

particles.
3 Food particles are

engulfed and digested

in food vacuoles.
Epidermis

Gastrodermis

Figure 41.8

Esophagus

Crop

Alimentary cana

Gizzard
Intestine

Pharynx
Anus
Mouth
(a) Earthworm
Foregut

Midgut

Hindgut
Rectum
Anus

Esophagus
Mouth
(b) Grasshopper

Crop

More complex
animals have a
digestive tube
with two
openings.
Stomach

Gastric cecae

Gizzard
Intestine

Mouth
Esophagus
Crop
(c) Bird

Anus

The Main Stages of Food Processing

1 INGESTION

Mechanical
digestion

2 DIGESTION

3 ABSORPTION

4 ELIMINATION

Chemical
digestion
(enzymatic
hydrolysis)
Nutrient
molecules
enter
body cells
Undigested
material

Mammalian Digestion
Digestion is the process of breaking food
down into molecules small enough to absorb
Chemical digestion splits food into small
molecules that can pass through membranes;
these are used to build larger molecules
In chemical digestion, the process of
enzymatic hydrolysis splits bonds in
molecules with the addition of water

Figure 41.9

Tongue

Oral cavity

Salivary
glands

Pharynx

Mouth

Esophagus
Liver

Gallbladder
Pancreas

Sphincter

Rectum
Anus

Gallbladder

Liver

Sphincter
Stomach

Small
intestine
Large
intestine

Esophagus

Pancreas
Anus

Duodenum of
small intestine

Salivary
glands
Stomach

Small
intestine
Large
intestine
Rectum

Digestion Begins in the Mouth

- Mechanical digestion, chewing, increases the
surface area of food
- Salivary Amylase begins carbohydrate digestion
- Tongue shapes food into a bolus and provides help
with swallowing.
- Swallowing causes the epiglottis to block entry to
the trachea
Bolus of
food

Tongue

Epiglottis
up

Pharynx

Esophageal
sphincter
contracted

Glottis
Larynx
Trachea
(a) Trachea open

Esophagus
To To
lungs stomach

Epiglottis
down

Esophageal
sphincter
relaxed

Glottis up
and closed
(b) Esophagus open

Food is pushed along by peristalsis,

rhythmic contractions of smooth
muscles through the esophagus,

where it encounters a sphincter

before it enters the stomach
Gastroesophageal
Sphincter

Pyloric Sphincter

Chemical Digestion in the

Stomach
Gastric juice has a low pH of about 2,
which kills bacteria and denatures proteins
Gastric juice is made up of hydrochloric
acid (HCl) and pepsin
Pepsin is a protease, or protein-digesting
enzyme, that cleaves proteins into smaller
peptides

Why doesnt gastric juice

destroy the stomach cells
that make it?

Three cell types responsible for secretions

Stomach
1. Chief cells
2. Parietal cells
Gastric pit
on the interior
surface of
stomach

Gastric gland

Mucous cell

Chief cell

Parietal cell

Epithelium

Hydrogen and Chloride

molecules are secreted
separately from
Parietal Cells, and
they form HCl in lumen
of gastric gland.
Chief Cells secrete
the inactive enzyme
precursor,
pepsinogen

Activation of Pepsin
3

Pepsinogen

Pepsin

1 Pepsinogen and

2
(active
HCl

HCl secreted into

lumen

enzyme)

Chief
cell

1
2

Cl

H+

HCl denatures pepsinogen,

exposing sites that the
molecules self-cleaves,
resulting in Pepsin.

Parietal
cell

Pepsin activates
more pepsinogen,
starting a chain
reaction.

Roles of HCl
1. Activation of pepsinogen into pepsin

2. Denatures proteins therefore exposing peptide

bonds
3. Kills microorganisms

Role of Pepsin

Initiates protein digestion through cleavage between

specific amino acids.
Pepsin

Cleaves peptide bonds

between hydrophobic
amino acids

Stomach Dynamics
Coordinated contraction and relaxation of
stomach muscle churn the stomachs
contents
Sphincters prevent chyme from entering
the esophagus and regulate its entry into
the small intestine

Small Intestine
Site at which most digestion and absorption
of nutrients occurs
1. Duodenum Site of entry for
pancreatic, liver and gall
bladder digestive juices.
Some absorption
2. Jejunum Comprises nearly
half of the small intestine. Site
for most absorption
3. ileum end portion of small
intestine.

 The first portion of the small intestine

is the duodenum, where chyme
from the stomach mixes with
digestive juices from the pancreas,
liver, gallbladder, and the small
intestine itself

Bile Production by the Liver

Bile is made in the liver and stored in the
gallbladder
In the small intestine, bile aids in
digestion and absorption of fats:
Bile exhibits detergent-like action,
and breaks
apart large fat molecules,
exposing them to
pancreatic lipase

Pancreatic Secretions
alkaline solution that neutralizes acidic
chyme
trypsin and chymotrypsin- partial
digestion of proteins. Activated in the lumen
of the duodenum. These enzymes differ
in their specificity to amino acids.
pancreatic amylase digests starch,
producing disaccharides.
Pancreactic Lipase- breaks down fats

Intestinal Enzymes
Enzymes that cleave small peptides
into amino acids are found at the
brush border of the small intestine
The intestinal enzymes maltase,
sucrase, and lactase cleave
disaccharides into monosaccharides.
maltase

Figure 41.12a

ORAL CAVITY, PHARYNX, ESOPHAGUS

CARBOHYDRATE
DIGESTION
Polysaccharides
(starch,
glycogen)

Disaccharides
(sucrose,
lactose)

Salivary amylase

Smaller
Maltose
polysaccharides

bohydrate digestion only: disaccharides produ

Figure 41.12b

STOMACH

CARBOHYDRATE
DIGESTION
Smaller
polysaccharides

Maltose

PROTEIN
DIGESTION
Disaccharides
(sucrose,
lactose)

Proteins
Pepsin
Small
polypeptides

Protein digestion only

Figure 41.12c

SMALL INTESTINE (enzymes from pancreas)

CARBOHYDRATE
DIGESTION

Smaller
polysaccha-

rides

Pancreatic
amylases
Disaccharides

Disaccharides
(sucrose,
lactose,
maltose)

PROTEIN
DIGESTION
Small
polypeptides
Pancreatic
trypsin and
chymotrypsin

NUCLEIC ACID
DIGESTION

FAT
DIGESTION

DNA, RNA

Fat
(triglycerides)

Pancreatic
nucleases

Nucleotides
Smaller
polypeptides

Pancreatic
lipase

Pancreatic
carboxypeptidase
Small
peptides

Amino
acids

Glycerol,
fatty acids,
monoglycerides

Figure 41.12d

SMALL INTESTINE
(enzymes from intestinal epithelium)
CARBOHYDRATE
DIGESTION
Disaccharides
(sucrose,
lactose,
maltose)

Disaccharidases

Monosaccharides

PROTEIN
DIGESTION
Small
peptides

NUCLEIC ACID
DIGESTION
Nucleotides

Amino acids
Nucleotidases

Dipeptidases,
carboxypeptidase,
and aminopeptidase

Amino acids

Nucleosidases
and
phosphatases
Nitrogenous bases,
sugars, phosphates

Villi of Small Intestine

Absorption in the Small

Intestine
The small intestine has a huge
surface area, due to villi and
microvilli that are exposed to the
intestinal lumen
The enormous microvillar surface
creates a brush border that greatly
increases the rate of nutrient
absorption
Transport across the epithelial cells
can be passive or active depending

utrient Absorption in the Small Intestine

Vein carrying
blood to liver
Blood
capillaries
Epithelial
cells
Muscle layers
Intestinal
wall
Nutrient
absorption

Villi

Large
circular
folds

Villi

Microvilli
(brush border)
at apical (lumenal)
surface
Epithelial
cells

Lumen

(toward
capillary)

Lacteal
Lymph
vessel

Basal
surface

Epithelial cells at the brush border

are polar. Nutrients move in one
direction, out of the lumen and
toward
Epithelial the capillaries
Lumen

cells

Microvilli
(brush border)
at apical (lumenal)
surface

(toward
capillary)

Basal
surface

 The hepatic portal vein carries

nutrient-rich blood from the capillaries of
the villi to the liver, then to the heart
The liver regulates
nutrient distribution,
interconverts many
organic molecules, and
detoxifies many organic
molecules
Hepatic Portal
Vein

Figure 41.14

Fatty acids form

chylomicrons,
which pass through
the epithelial cells
and enter the
lacteals, a
lymphatic vessel
that bypasses the
liver, emptying the
chylomicrons into
the general
circulation. They
are then delivered
to cells throughout
the body

LUMEN
Triglycerides
OF SMALL
INTESTINE
Epithelial
Fatty
cell
acids Monoglycerides

1 Triglycerides
are broken
down to fatty
acids and
monoglycerides
by lipase.

2 Monoglycerides

Triglycerides

Phospholipids,
cholesterol,
and
proteins
Chylomicron

and fatty acids

diffuse into
epithelial cells
and are reformed
into triglycerides.

3 Triglycerides are
incorporated into
chylomicrons.

4 Chylomicrons

Lacteal

enter lacteals
and are carried
away by lymph.

The Large Intestine

Colon, cecum and rectum
- Removes water and salt
- Storage of fecal material.
Cellulose, a component of the plant cell
wall, is not digested by mammals and
contributes to bulk.
Some anaerobic bacteria that live in the
hind gut of many mammals secrete
cellulases, enzymes that break down
cellulose.

The cecum aids in

the fermentation of
plant material and
connects where the
small and large
intestines meet
The human cecum
has an extension
called the appendix,
which plays a minor

Ascending
portion
of colon
Small
intestine

Appendix
Cecum

 The colon completes the

reabsorption of water that began in
the small intestine
Feces, including undigested material
and bacteria, become more solid as
they move through the colon
Two sphincters between the rectum
and anus control bowel movements

Regulation of Digestion
The enteric division of the nervous
system
Autonomic nerve control
Nerve cell bodies found in the wall of the gut
Reflex pathway

Endocrine Regulation
Gastrin secreted by specialized cells in
the stomach wall in response to presence
of amino acid and stomach distention.
Secretin secreted by specialized cells
in the small intestines in response to
amino acids and fats.
Cholecystokinin (CCK) secreted by
specialized cells in the intestines in
response to amino acids and fat.

Gastrin is released into the blood before

finding its target cell on the stomach wall
1
Gallbladder

Liver

Stimulation
Inhibition

Food
Stomach

Gastric Gastrin
juices
Pancreas
Duodenum of
small intestine

Gastrin stimulates the release of gastric juices

(HCl) into the lumen of the stomach

The acidic nature of chyme in the intestine

stimulates release of secretin and CCK
Bile

There is an additive
effect of secretin and
CCK on cells of the
pancreas which release
HCO3- and other
digestive enzymes

Chyme
CCK

Stimulation
Inhibition

HCO3, enzymes
Secretin CCK

Figure 41.20c

Feedback inhibition of CCK

Secretin
and CCK
Gastric
juices
Stimulation
Inhibition

Evolutionary adaptations of vertebrate

digestive systems correlate with diet
Carnivore

Herbivore

Omnivore

Key

Incisors

Canines

Premolars

Molars

Figure 41.17

Many carnivores
have large,
expandable
stomachs

Small intestine
Small
intestine

Herbivores and
omnivores have
longer alimentary
canals than
carnivores,
reflecting the
longer time
needed to digest
vegetation

Stomach

Cecum

Carnivore

Colon
(large
intestine)
Herbivore

Mutualistic Adaptations in
Herbivores

Many
herbivores
Reticulum
have
fermentation Esophagus
chambers,
where
mutualistic
microorganism
3
s digest
Omasum
cellulose
2

Abomasum
4

Rumen

Intestine