Submission Type
Event
Expected Graduation Date
2011
Location
Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-10-2010 9:00 AM
End Date
4-10-2010 10:00 AM
Disciplines
Biology
Abstract
A considerable amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) exists in freshwater environments (5- 40 µ g/mL). However, freshwater invertebrates, including crustaceans, are viewed as incapable of taking up and metabolically utilizing DOM. We evaluated this hypothesis by exposing the freshwater crustacean Bosmina longirostris to labeled proteins and polysaccharides. Individuals readily ingested these materials as evidenced by the presence of molecule-specific labels in the digestive system. Histological examination of specimens exposed to the protein ferritin revealed that the label was in the lumen of the digestive tract but not in the surrounding cells. Digestion in crustaceans is extracellular, and the absence of a label within cells is not necessarily unexpected. Bosmina longirostris is capable of supplementing its diet of particulate foods through the acquisition and assimilation of DOM from its environment.
Included in
Uptake and Assimilation of Dissolved Organic Matter by Bosmina longirostris (Crustacea: Cladocera)
Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
A considerable amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) exists in freshwater environments (5- 40 µ g/mL). However, freshwater invertebrates, including crustaceans, are viewed as incapable of taking up and metabolically utilizing DOM. We evaluated this hypothesis by exposing the freshwater crustacean Bosmina longirostris to labeled proteins and polysaccharides. Individuals readily ingested these materials as evidenced by the presence of molecule-specific labels in the digestive system. Histological examination of specimens exposed to the protein ferritin revealed that the label was in the lumen of the digestive tract but not in the surrounding cells. Digestion in crustaceans is extracellular, and the absence of a label within cells is not necessarily unexpected. Bosmina longirostris is capable of supplementing its diet of particulate foods through the acquisition and assimilation of DOM from its environment.