FIBER UTILIZATION BY KALAHARI DWELLING SUBTERRANEAN DAMARA MOLE-RATS (CRYPTOMYS DAMARENSIS) WHEN FED THEIR NATURAL DIET OF GEMSBOK CUCUMBER TUBERS (ACANTHOSICYOS-NAUDINIANUS)

被引:7
作者
BUFFENSTEIN, R [1 ]
YAHAV, S [1 ]
机构
[1] UNIV WITWATERSRAND,SCH MED,DEPT PHYSIOL,JOHANNESBURG 2193,SOUTH AFRICA
来源
COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-PHYSIOLOGY | 1994年 / 109卷 / 02期
关键词
MOLE-RATS; BATHYERGIDAE; CRYPTOMYS DAMARENSIS; HIGHER FIBER; FERMENTATION; CECAL FERMENTATION; CECAL TEMPERATURE; SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS;
D O I
10.1016/0300-9629(94)90147-3
中图分类号
Q5 [生物化学]; Q7 [分子生物学];
学科分类号
071010 ; 081704 ;
摘要
Kalahari dwelling Damara mole-rats (Cryptomys damarensis) naturally feed on a high fibre diet of underground gemsbok cucumber tubers, Acanthosicyos naudinianus. We investigated the degree of fibre utilization and fermentation on this diet by measuring caecal characteristics (namely temperature, pH and weight) and in vitro rates of gas and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in these underground dwelling hind-gut fermenters. Rectal temperatures (33.8 +/- 0.6 degrees C) were consistently higher than caecal temperatures (33.3 +/- 0.6 degrees C). Furthermore, a 0.8 degrees C gradient of temperatures existed within the caecum, with the lowest temperature occurring in the corpus caeci. Both rates of gas production (4.74 +/- 0.6 ml/g dry matter/hr) and SCFA production (266.80 +/- 9.251 mu mol/caecum per hr) were high, with proportionately more acetic acid produced than any other SCFA. Nevertheless, the initial concentrations of SCFAs present in the caecum were low (52 +/- 17 mM) implying a rapid rate of absorption of these SCFAs. The high rates of fermentation provide a considerable amount of energy that would otherwise be trapped in fibre and thus unavailable to the animal. This highly efficient caecal fermentation enables the Damara mole-rat to maximally exploit the underground food resources in the arid-zone ecotope.
引用
收藏
页码:431 / 436
页数:6
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