scholarly journals Symbiotic bacteria enable insect to use a nutritionally inadequate diet

2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (1658) ◽  
pp. 987-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Akman Gündüz ◽  
A.E Douglas

Animals generally require a dietary supply of various nutrients (vitamins, essential amino acids, etc.) because their biosynthetic capabilities are limited. The capacity of aphids to use plant phloem sap, with low essential amino acid content, has been attributed to their symbiotic bacteria, Buchnera aphidicola , which can synthesize these nutrients; but this has not been demonstrated empirically. We demonstrate here that phloem sap obtained from the severed stylets of pea aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum feeding on Vicia faba plants generally provided inadequate amounts of at least one essential amino acid to support aphid growth. Complementary analyses using aphids reared on chemically defined diets with each amino acid individually omitted revealed that the capacity of the symbiotic bacterium B. aphidicola to synthesize essential amino acids exceeded the dietary deficit of all phloem amino acids except methionine. It is proposed that this shortfall of methionine was met by aphid usage of the non-protein amino acid 5-methylmethionine in the phloem sap. This study provides the first quantitative demonstration that bacterial symbiosis can meet the nutritional demand of plant-reared aphids. It shows how symbiosis with micro-organisms has enabled this group of animals to escape from the constraint of requiring a balanced dietary supply of amino acids.

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 825-828
Author(s):  
Anuck Islary ◽  
Jatin Sarmah ◽  
Sanjay Basumatary

In this study, amino acids profiles of 5 wild edible fruits viz. Grewia sapida, Ottelia alismoides, Aporosa dioica, Antidesma bunius and Eugenia operculata found in Assam of North-East India were investigated by RP-HPLC equipped with C18 column. A total of 17 amino acids in varying compositions were identified and 8 of these are essential amino acids and 9 of these are non-essential amino acids. In all of the 5 wild fruits, 6 different amino acids were identified and these were aspartic acid (1.151-3.837 %), glutamic acid (2.283-9.667 %), arginine (0.904-7.187 %), valine (0.142-1.029 %), leucine (1.849-19.665 %), and histidine (0.467-12.986 %). A. bunius fruit showed the highest non-essential amino acid content whereas O. alismoides fruit displayed the highest essential amino acid content. Leucine was found to be the most abundant essential amino acid whereas glutamic acid was detected to be the most abundant non-essential amino acid.


2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (17) ◽  
pp. 3027-3038 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. Wilkinson ◽  
D. Adams ◽  
L. B. Minto ◽  
A. E. Douglas

SUMMARY The black-bean aphid Aphis fabae bears populations of coccoid symbiotic bacteria Buchnera spp. at 2.0–3.2×107cellsmg−1aphidmass and rod-shaped secondary symbionts of uncertain taxonomic affiliation at 0.1–0.6×107cellsmg−1aphidmass. Buchnera provides essential amino acids, supplementing the poor supply in the aphid diet of plant phloem sap. Comparison of the performance of A. fabae containing and experimentally deprived of their bacteria showed that the bacteria caused increased larval mass of aphids reared on Chenopodium album and Papaver dubium plants, but not when reared on Lamium purpureum. In the aphids reared on L. purpureum, the density of the bacteria, especially the secondary symbionts, was significantly elevated, and bacterial-mediated production of the essential amino acid threonine was reduced, even though the essential amino acid content of phloem exudates from L. purpureum had a low threonine content. It is proposed that the shortfall in threonine, possibly compounded by the high density of secondary symbionts, may contribute to the poor performance of the aphids on L. purpureum. This study offers the first evidence to suggest plant-mediated interference with the nutritional function of symbiotic bacteria in any phytophagous insect.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 4972
Author(s):  
Lata Birlangi

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of mankind’s oldest cultivated plants. The fruit of the date palm is an important crop of the hot arid and semi-arid regions of the world. It has always played a genuine economic and social part in the lives of the people of these areas. The present objective in examining the amino acid content of different varieties of date palm fruits from Middle-East region; is to determine whether its protein could effectively supplement the nutritional value and it is also aimed in finding which variety is rich in number of amino acids. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of eight essential amino acids and five non-essential amino acids in the date fruits. Among all the date fruit varieties taken as samples for the study, Dabbas cultivar of United Arab Emirates found to exhibit eight types of amino acids which includes five as non-essential ones. Total of thirteen amino acids were detected in the seven date cultivars. Determination of amino acid can serve as a guide to the possible nutritional value.


EvoDevo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste R. Banfill ◽  
Alex C. C. Wilson ◽  
Hsiao-ling Lu

Abstract Background Host/symbiont integration is a signature of evolutionarily ancient, obligate endosymbioses. However, little is known about the cellular and developmental mechanisms of host/symbiont integration at the molecular level. Many insects possess obligate bacterial endosymbionts that provide essential nutrients. To advance understanding of the developmental and metabolic integration of hosts and endosymbionts, we track the localization of a non-essential amino acid transporter, ApNEAAT1, across asexual embryogenesis in the aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Previous work in adult bacteriomes revealed that ApNEAAT1 functions to exchange non-essential amino acids at the A. pisum/Buchnera aphidicola symbiotic interface. Driven by amino acid concentration gradients, ApNEAAT1 moves proline, serine, and alanine from A. pisum to Buchnera and cysteine from Buchnera to A. pisum. Here, we test the hypothesis that ApNEAAT1 is localized to the symbiotic interface during asexual embryogenesis. Results During A. pisum asexual embryogenesis, ApNEAAT1 does not localize to the symbiotic interface. We observed ApNEAAT1 localization to the maternal follicular epithelium, the germline, and, in late-stage embryos, to anterior neural structures and insect immune cells (hemocytes). We predict that ApNEAAT1 provisions non-essential amino acids to developing oocytes and embryos, as well as to the brain and related neural structures. Additionally, ApNEAAT1 may perform roles related to host immunity. Conclusions Our work provides further evidence that the embryonic and adult bacteriomes of asexual A. pisum are not equivalent. Future research is needed to elucidate the developmental time point at which the bacteriome reaches maturity.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo-Hyun Choi ◽  
Jonathan L. Coloff

Far beyond simply being 11 of the 20 amino acids needed for protein synthesis, non-essential amino acids play numerous important roles in tumor metabolism. These diverse functions include providing precursors for the biosynthesis of macromolecules, controlling redox status and antioxidant systems, and serving as substrates for post-translational and epigenetic modifications. This functional diversity has sparked great interest in targeting non-essential amino acid metabolism for cancer therapy and has motivated the development of several therapies that are either already used in the clinic or are currently in clinical trials. In this review, we will discuss the important roles that each of the 11 non-essential amino acids play in cancer, how their metabolic pathways are linked, and how researchers are working to overcome the unique challenges of targeting non-essential amino acid metabolism for cancer therapy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Hickson

The aim of the present paper is to critically review the details of the published nutrition intervention trials, with and without exercise, targeting sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass, strength and/or performance with age. Since amino acids and energy are required for muscle synthesis it is possible that nutritional intake influences sarcopenia. Nutritional studies are challenging to carry out because of the complexity of modulating dietary intake. It is very difficult to change one nutrient without influencing many others, which means that many of the published studies are problematic to interpret. The studies included evaluate whole protein, essential amino acids and β-hydroxyl β-methylbutyrate (HMB). Whole-protein supplementation failed to show a consistent effect on muscle mass, strength or function. This can be explained by the variations in study design, composition of the protein supplement and the failure to monitor voluntary food intake, adherence and baseline nutritional status. Essential amino-acid supplements showed an inconsistent effect but there are only two trials that have significant differences in methodology and the supplement used. The HMB studies are suggestive of a beneficial effect on older adults, but larger well-controlled studies are required that measure outcomes relevant to sarcopenia, ideally in sarcopenic populations. The issues of timing and distribution of protein intake, and increased splanchnic amino-acid sequestration are discussed, and recommendations for future trials are made.


Author(s):  
Radha Palaniswamy ◽  
Dhanyasri Selvaraj ◽  
Sandhiya Renganathan

Objective: To determine the protein quality, especially the amino acid content of 8 tropical fruits both raw and boiled samples. Eight different tropical fruits were used in the study (Apricot, Jamun, Dragonfruit, Pomegranate, Mangustan, Litchi, Jackfruit, and Kiwi.Methods: Ninhydrin method was used for the estimation of the concentration of amino acids present in the above fruits. Raw and boiled fruits were used for the study.Results: Both raw and boiled forms which showed thats Jamun and Mangustan contained highest concentration amino acids whereas apricot shows the lowest concentration of amino acids except in Jamun which showed higher values in the raw fruit whereas in others the boiled samples showed higher values.Conclusion: It was evident that tropical fruits have a good balance of the essential amino acids (both raw and boiled fomr) which provide significant sources of protein in our diet.


1985 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Heger ◽  
Z. Frydrych

1. Nitrogen balance was studied in growing male SPF-rats fed on diets in which each essential amino acid was varied from zero to about 120% of optimum requirement. From the balance results, optimum and maintenance requirements were estimated as well as the efficiency of utilization of amino acids for growth and growth + maintenance.2. N balance increased with increasing dietary level of the deficient amino acid; the response gradually diminished as the content of the amino acid approached optimum. At zero level of intake, negative N balance was found for all amino acids except histidine. The highest loss of body N was found in the sulphur-amino-acid-free diet and the lowest one in the lysine-free diet.3. Maximal utilization of essential amino acids for growth was found at dietary levels corresponding to 30–60% of optimum requirement and ranged from about 0.65 to 0.85 except for S amino acids and histidine. The utilization of S amino acids was about 0.55 while that of histidine exceeded 1.0. The utilization of amino acids for growth-tmaintenance was maximal at the lowest levels of intake and gradually decreased as the dietary concentration of the limiting amino acid increased. At dietary levels near optimum the utilization was about 06–07, except for S amino acids where the utilization was less than 0.5.


1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Riley ◽  
J. A. D. Ewart

SUMMARYAt the present time attempts are being made to improve the nutritional value of wheat by increasing the content of certain essential amino acids, particularly lysine, in the proteins of the grain. Rye grain has a considerably higher lysine content than that of wheat. Consequently in the present work studies were made of the amino acid contents of the grains of the wheat variety Holdfast, the rye variety King II, the Triticale derived from these parental varieties and the seven lines in which, in turn, each pair of chromosomes of King II are separately added to Holdfast.Rye chromosome I increased the lysine content of wheat by 8·7% and associated changes in the proportions of other amino acids suggest that this increase is meaningful. Rye chromosome I is in homoeologous group 5 and other reports have indicated a relationship between changed lysine content and another character determined by chromosomes of this group. Consequently there is a suggestion that group 5 chromosomes may be of particular significance in the determination of lysine content in wheat grains. Confirmation of this would lead to a more rational approach to breeding for higher lysine content.


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