Are levels of digestive enzyme activity related to the natural diet in passerine birds?

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dc.contributor.authorRamirez-Otarola, Natalia
dc.contributor.authorSabat, Pablo
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-21T00:03:28Z
dc.date.available2025-01-21T00:03:28Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractDigestive capabilities, such as the rates nutrient hydrolysis and absorption, may affect energy intake and ultimately feeding behavior. In birds, a high diversity in gut biochemical capabilities seems to support the existence of a correlation between the morphology and physiology of the intestinal tract and chemical features of the natural diet. However, studies correlating the activity of digestive enzymes and the feeding habits at an evolutionary scale are scarce. We investigated the effect of dietary habits on the digestive physiological characteristics of eight species of passerine birds from Central Chile. The Order Passeriformes is a speciose group with a broad dietary spectrum that includes omnivorous, granivorous and insectivorous species. We measured the activity of three enzymes: maltase, sucrase and arninopeptidase-N. Using an autocorrelation analysis to remove the phylogenetic effect, we found that dietary habits had no effect on enzymatic activity. However, we found that granivorous and omnivorous species had higher levels of disaccharidase activities and insectivores had the lowest. The major difference in enzymatic activity found at the inter-specific level, compared to the reported lower magnitude of enzyme modulation owing to dietary acclimation, suggests that these differences to some extent have a genetic basis. However, the lack of a clear association between diet categories and gut physiology suggested us that dietary categorizations do not always reflect the chemical composition of the ingested food.
dc.description.funderFONDECYT
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.eissn0717-6287
dc.identifier.issn0716-9760
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/95465
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:000289541700011
dc.issue.numero1
dc.language.isoen
dc.pagina.final88
dc.pagina.inicio81
dc.revistaBiological research
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectbirds
dc.subjectdiet
dc.subjectintestinal enzymes
dc.subjectPasseriformes
dc.subjectfood habits
dc.subjectadaptation
dc.subject.ods03 Good Health and Well-being
dc.subject.odspa03 Salud y bienestar
dc.titleAre levels of digestive enzyme activity related to the natural diet in passerine birds?
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen44
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-01-12
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