Chapter 6: Nutrition

Introduction
Nutrition Process of an organism furnishing itself or being furnished with the essential materials needed for energy production, growth and reproduction secretion, storage and for the maintenance of the osmotic conditions and pH within its body Can be categorized into:1. Autotrophic nutrition 2. Heterotrophic nutrition b) ii) Insectivorous plants iii) Some protoctists Holozoic characters of mammals i) Ingestion Taking in of large, insoluble, complex food material consisting mostly of organic polymer molecule ii) Digestion Mechanical that breaks down large particles into smaller pieces and digested chemically by enzymes into small, simple soluble molecules iii) Assimilation Use of the absorbed molecules in the body which includes releasing energy to carry out metabolism or synthesizing cellular structure iv) Egestion Elimination of undigested waste substances from the body Division of Holozoic organisms i) Herbivores eat plants (1) Examples:(a) Goats (b) Cows (c) Rabbits ii) Carnivores feed on other animals (1) Examples:(a) Tigers (b) Lions (c) Hawks iii) Omnivores feed on both plants and animals (1) Examples:(a) Humans (b) Bears iv) Detritivores feed on dead and decaying detritus (1) Examples:(a) Earthworms (b) Centipedes (c) Woodlice v) Insectivorous plants plants that are able to trap insects and digest them (1) Examples:(a) Pitcher plants, Nepenthes (b) Sundews, Drosera (c) Venus fly traps, Dionaea muscipula Main groups of Holozoic organisms i) Microphagus feeders (1) Take in very small particles (2) Examples (a) Unicellular organisms (i) Amoeba (ii) Paramecium (b) Multicellular aquatic organisms (i) Daphnia (ii) Gastropods ii) Liquid feeders (1) Take in liquid food or food with very soft tissues (2) Examples (a) Aphids (b) Bees (c) Flies (d) Mosquitoes iii) Macrophagus feeders (1) Take in relatively large particles (2) Examples (a) Bigger animals (of the most) (b) Fish (c) Birds (d) Reptiles (e) Mammals Human digestive system

Autotrophic Nutrition
Properties Organic compounds are synthesized / manufactured from raw inorganic materials by the organisms Organism, for example all green plants and some bacteria, in such nutrition autotrophs Methods of autotrophic nutrition:1) Photosynthesis a) Definition Process of synthesizing organic compounds using sunlight as the source of energy b) Organism that carried out photosynthesis photoautotroph i) All green plants ii) Algae iii) Some bacteria iv) Cyanobacteria v) Chlorobium vi) Chromatium c) Equation of photosynthesis process (optional) i) Carried out by (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) with the help of chlorophyll (1) (2) ii) Carried out (v), (vi) with the help of bacteriochlorophyll (1) 2) Chemosynthesis a) Definition Process of synthesizing organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water using energy supplied by chemical process that involve the oxidation of inorganic substances b) Organisms that carried out chemosynthesis chemoautotrophs c) Energy to drive the synthesis of organic compounds is obtained by oxidizing inorganic chemicals d) Examples i) Lepothrix (1) ii) Thiobacillus 2(1) + energy iii) Nitrifying bacteria (1) Nitrosomonas obtain their energy from the oxidation of ammonia to nitrites (from decomposing plants and animals) (a) (2) Nitrobacter oxidizes nitrites to nitrates (a) Chemoautotrophs play important roles in biogeochemical cycles

c)

d)

Heterotrophic nutrition
Definition Organisms are not able to synthesize organic compounds but obtain them from various sources Organisms heterotrophs 1) All animals 2) Fungi 3) Many bacteria 4) Some protoctists Types of heterotrophic nutrition 1) Holozoic a) Organisms i) Most animals

e)

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Chapter 6: Nutrition

i)

Stages in human digestive system (1) Ingestion Taking food into the body (2) Physical digestion Peristalsis Movement of food along the alimentary canal by muscular contraction and relaxation (3) Chemical digestion Digestion (a) Complex food molecule is broken into simple molecules that can be absorbed during hydrolysis by digestive enzymes, which are secreted by glands outside the food canal (b) Division of groups for different digestive enzymes (i) Carbohydrases Act on carbohydrates and break them up into simple molecules (ii) Lipases Act on fats and break them up into glycerol and fatty acids (iii) Proteases Act on proteins and break them up into amino acids (4) Absorption (a) Absorption of hexose sugars in most animals occurs through the intestinal walls (b) Modifications of the intestinal wall to facilitate the absorption of the products of digestion (i) Long intestine (ii) Thousands of villi on the surface of walls (iii) Thousands of microvilli on each epithelial cell of intestinal surface (c) Small intestine has a blood capillary system that is extensive so that the products of digestion can be transported quickly from the absorption site to the liver through hepatic portal vein (d) Absorption through active transport occurs against the concentration gradient (i) Glucose (ii) Fructose (iii) Galactose (e) Fatty acids and glycerol are absorbed by the epithelial cells and from there they enter the blood capillaries and go directly into the general blood system (i) Fat droplets enter the villi through pinocytosis and then go into the lacteals and finally into the lymphatic system (ii) Proteins in the lymphatic ducts are deposited on the fat molecules to form lipoproteins (f) Absorption of water into blood capillaries occurs in the large intestine through osmosis (i) Contents of large intestine are hypotonic compared to the contents of the blood capillaries of the villi in the large intestine

(5)

ii)

Assimilation (a) Process of combining the simple products of digestion or nutrients in an animal to make complex compounds (b) Most of the simple sugars change into glycogen for storage in the liver and muscles and the rest are circulated throughout the body for cellular respiration (c) Excess glycogen is changed into lipids, which are then stored at several storage sites (d) Glycogen and fatty acids are taken to the lipid storage sites in the form of lipid droplets and phospholipids (i) Kept in 1. Adipose tissues beneath the skin 2. Around the heart 3. Kidney 4. Mesentery tissues (e) Phospholipids are used in the formation of plasma membrane and nuclear membrane (i) When they are needed by cells, they are removed from storage and brought to the liver to be used to form cell components or to produce energy through cellular respiration (f) Amino acid, which are needed for growth, tissue reproduction and secretory activities, are distributed throughout the body by circulatory system from liver (i) Excess amino aids are metabolized through deamination to form urea, uric acid, or other nitrogenous excretory products (ii) Some of the amino acids are transaminated to form other amino acids (g) Some vitamins can be stored in the liver (i) Example: 1. Vitamin A, D, K and (h) Other vitamins if found in excess will be metabolized by the liver and filtered out of the blood by the kidneys (6) Egestion (a) Once absorption through the ileum is completed, whatever left is the remains of undigested food cellulose, secretions from the intestines and other organs and plenty of water (b) When the undigested food passes through the colon, water is reabsorbed and undigested food becomes more compact (c) When it reaches the rectum, it becomes faeces and egested by the constriction of the muscles of the rectum (i) Composition and quality of the faeces differ according to the diet Functions of general structure (1) Teeth (a) Breakdown of large food particles into smaller pieces (b) Known as mechanical digestion (2) Salivary gland (a) Secretes saliva (3) Epiglottis (a) Closes over the glottis during swallowing of food (4) Esophagus (a) Peristalsis moves food from pharynx to stomach (5) Liver (a) Produces bile

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Chapter 6: Nutrition
(6) (7) (8) Gall bladder (a) Stores bile Stomach (a) Secretes gastric juice Duodenum (a) Secretes intestinal juice, receives bile from liver and pancreatic juice from pancreas Pancreas (a) Secretes pancreatic juice Ileum (a) Completion of digestion and absorption of digested food Colon (a) Absorption of water, mineral salts, vitamin K and folic acid produced by E.coli and also absorbed Rectum (a) Temporary storage of faeces Anus (a) Undigested food is egested

ii)

Rhizopus

(9) (10)

(11)

(12) (13)

Sites of Production Mouth Stomach

pH 6.5 7.5 2.0

Secretion Saliva Gastric juice

Enzyme Salivary amylase Rennin

Substrate Starch Milk protein caseinogem

Products Maltose Casein

iii) iv) v)

Saccharomyces yeast Mushroom Clostridium botulinun (1) Produce exotoxin botulin which decays food that will cause food poisoning in man

3)

Liver

7.0

Bile Pancreatic juice

Villi of small intestine

8.5 (border)

Brush border of epithelial cells

Pepsin Proteins Polypeptides Bile salts to emulsify fats into small droplets Pancreatic Starch Maltose amylase Lipase Lipids Fatty acids Glycerol Trypsin Proteins Polypeptides Chrymotrypsin Proteins Peptides CarboxyCarboxyl end Amino acids peptidase of polypeptide Nuclease Nucleic acids Nucleotides Enterokinase Trypsinogen Trypsin (inactive) (inactive) Maltase Sucrose Lactase Amino peptidase Peptidase Nucleotidase Maltose Sucrose Lactose Amino end of polypeptides Dipeptides Nucleotides Glucose + glucose Glucose + fructose Glucose + Galactose Amino acids

Pentose sugars Phosphates Nitrogenous organic base

Symbiotic a) Definition Close or permanent association between 2 or more organisms of different species b) May or may not be beneficial to the symbionts c) Some relationships are obligatory, where 1 or both the organisms cant survive at the same time d) Common types i) Parasitism (1) Parasite obtains its food from host (a) It absorb the following which may harm the host (i) Blood (ii) Plant sap (iii) Digested food (iv) Tissues (b) Well adapted to their host and dont cause great harm (i) Enables them to have larger number of hosts and to spread more widely (2) Division of groups (a) Endoparasites live within a host (i) Usually bathed in nutrients and absorbed the already digested food by the host 1. Examples a. Liver flukes b. Taenia, tapeworms

2)

Saprophytic a) Organisms that feed on dead and decaying organic molecules, which cant synthesize their own organic molecules b) Enzymes are secreted by extracellular digestion and absorbed the products of digestion through the cell surface i) Complex food are hydrolyzed into glucose, amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol for absorption c) They act as decomposers whereby organic molecules of dead organisms and their waste products are broken down and the component chemical elements are eventually released for reuse by autotroph d) Examples:i) Mucor

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Chapter 6: Nutrition
(b) Remora fish and shark

Tapeworm Scolex @ Head

iii)

ii)

c. Potato fungus d. Phythophthora infestans (b) Ectoparasites live on the surface of host (i) Attack the surface of their living host and suck up juices from their bodies 1. Examples a. Ticks b. Fleas c. Leeches (c) Obligate parasites (i) Unable to survive and reproduce in the absence of a host 1. Examples a. Tapeworm b. Phythophthora infestans (d) Facultative parasites (i) Can live independently in the absence of a host (ii) Have the opportunity to be parasitic if the opportunity arises (iii) Example 1. Armillaria mellea, bootlace fungus (e) Adaptation (i) Have special method of entry into the body of the host 1. Locomotory structures are generally reduced or absent (ii) Have structures that anchor them onto their host (iii) Have lost organ systems and function that are no longer needed (iv) Protect themselves against the internal defenses of their host (v) Have complex life cycles (vi) Have a high reproductive output Commensalism (1) Definition Close association between commensal derives benefits from the association but the host in unaffected (2) Examples:(a) Epiphytic orchids and ferns on the trunk and branches

Mutualism (1) Definition Close association between 2 different living species where both are benefited (2) Examples (a) Rhizobium and host plant (b) Lichen and fungal cells (c) Lichen and algal cells (d) Mycorrhiza and fungus (e) Mycorrhiza and plant root (f) Protozoa and termites

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