Nutrient Procurement and Processing

At the end of the lesson, you are be able to:

• define nutrient and cite the nutritional requirements of plants and animals;
• enumerate nutritional adaptation by plants and feeding mechanisms in animals;
• distinguish different kinds of digestive compartments in animals; and
• trace the pathway of food processing in a mammalian/human digestive system.

Lecture on Plant Nutrition

1. Define nutrient and enumerate the two types of organisms based on mode of nutrition.
I. Nutrient – refers to any substance required for the growth and maintenance of an organism. The two types
of organisms based on the mode of nutrition are:
A. autotrophs – organisms that obtain energy from sunlight and chemicals to produce their own food.
Examples: plants; chemosynthetic bacteria
B. heterotrophs – organisms that cannot make their own food and obtain their energy from other organisms.
Examples: animals, fungi

2. Identify the nutritional requirements of plants:

A. water
B. carbon dioxide
Note that water and carbon dioxide are the raw materials needed for photosynthesis, the process by which
plants convert the energy from sunlight intochemical energy.
C. essential nutrients or elements – which include macronutrients which are normally required in amounts
above 0.5% of the plant’s dry weight; and micronutrients which are required in minute or trace amounts;
D. examples of macronutrients: C, H, O, N, K, Ca, Mg, P, S
E. examples of micronutrients: Cl, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Co, Mo

3. Distinguish between the routes for the absorption of water and minerals across plant roots:
A. symplast route – through plasmodesmata
B. apoplast route – along cell walls
*Note that the water and minerals from the soil need to reach the conducting tissues of plants, specifically
the xylem. The two routes mentioned show how this can happen.

4. Cite specialized absorptive structures:

A. root hairs – slender extensions of specialized epidermal cells that greatly increase the surface area
available for absorption.
B. root nodules – localized swellings in roots of certain plants where bacterial cells exist
symbiotically with the plant. The bacteria help the plant fix nitrogen and in turn, the
bacteria are able to utilize some organic compounds provided by the plant.

mycorrhizae (singular, mycorrhiza) – a symbiotic interaction between a young root and a fungus. The
fungus obtains sugars and nitrogen-containing compounds from root cells while the plant is able to get
some scarce minerals that the fungus is better able to absorb from the soil.

5. Enumerate nutritional adaptation by plants:

A. Symbiosis of plants and soil microbes
B. Symbiosis of plants and fungi
C. Parasitism
D. Predation
Lecture on Animal Nutrition
1. Concept of calories from food.

A Calorie is a unit of energy that indicates the amount of energy contained in food. It specifically refers to the
amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kg (2.2 lb.) of water by 1 oC (1.8oF). The greater
the number of Calories in a quantity of food, the greater energy it contains (Johnson and Raven, 1996).

2. Nutritional requirements of animals:

I. Carbohydrates – serve as a major energy source for the cells in the body. These are usually obtained from
grains, cereals, breads, fruits, and vegetables. On average, carbohydrates contain 4 Calories per gram.

II. Proteins – can also be used as an energy source but the body mainly uses these as building materials for cell
structures and as enzymes, hormones, parts of muscles, and bones. Proteins come from dairy products,
poultry, fish, meat, and grains. Like carbohydrates, proteins also contain 4 Calories per gram.

III. Fats – are used to build cell membranes, steroid hormones, and other cellular structures; also used to
insulate nervous tissue, and also serve as an energy source. Fats also contain certain fat- soluble vitamins that
are important for good health. Fats are obtained from oils, margarine, butter, fried foods, meat, and
processed snack foods. They contain a higher amount of energy per gram than carbohydrates or proteins,
about 9 Calories per gram.

IV. Essential Nutrients – include substances that animals can only get from the foods they eat because they
could not be synthesized inside the body. These include:
A. Essential amino acids – needed for synthesis of proteins and enzymes; among the 20 amino acids, eight
could not be synthesized by humans: lysine, tryptophan, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine, leucine,
isoleucine and valine.

B. Essential fatty acids – used for making special membrane lipids; an example is linoleic acid in humans.

C. Vitamins – organic molecules required in small amounts for normal metabolism; examples include fat-
soluble Vitamins A, D, E, K, and water-soluble Vitamins B, B2, B3, B12, C.

D. Trace Elements or Minerals – inorganic nutrients needed by the body in minute amounts; these form
part of enzymes, body tissues, and body fluids; examples include: iodine, cobalt, zinc, molybdenum,
manganese, selenium.

3. Food uptake in cells via the three types of endocytosis:

l. phagocytosis – engulfment of organic fragments or big particles, eg. pseudopod formation in
Amoeba.
II. pinocytosis – uptake of extracellular fluid by a cell using small vesicles derived from the plasma
membrane.
III. receptor-mediated endocytosis – this relies on membrane receptor recognition of specific solutes which
are then taken up by the cell via receptor-coated pits.

4. Different types of animals based on feeding mechanisms:

I. substrate-feeders – animals that live in or on their food source. Examples: earthworms that feed through
the soil where they live in; caterpillars that eat through the leaves where they live on.
 II. filter-feeders – include many aquatic animals which draw in water and strain small organisms and food
particles present in the medium. Examples: whales and coelenterates

III. fluid-feeders – suck fluids containing nutrients from a living host. Examples: mosquitoes, leeches,head lice,
aphids

IV. bulk-feeders – eat relatively large chunks of food and have adaptations like jaws, teeth, tentacles, claws,
pincers, etc. that help in securing the food and tearing it to pieces. Examples: snakes, cats, man

5. Different kinds of digestive compartments in animals:

I. Food vacuoles in unicellular organisms – these fuse with lysosomes that contain hydrolytic enzymes.
Example: food vacuole in a protozoa like Paramecium

II. Gastrovascular cavity or incomplete digestive system – composed of a single opening through which food
is taken in and where wastes are disposed of; it is a saclike body cavity. Examples: in the cnidarian Hydra and
in flatworm Planaria

III. Complete digestive system – essentially like a tube with an opening at one end for taking in food (mouth)
and an opening at the other end where unabsorbed waste materials are eliminated (anus). In between the mouth
and anus, are specialized organs that carry out transport, processing, and absorption of digested nutrients.

6. The accessory organs for digestion in a complete digestive system:

I. liver – secretes bile for emulsifying fats
II. gallbladder – stores bile produced by the liver
III. pancreas – secretes enzymes that break down all major food molecules; secretes buffers
against HCl from the stomach; secretes the hormone insulin for control of glucose metabolism

Lecture on the Digestive System

1. The main stages of food processing:

A. Ingestion – the act of eating or feeding; this is coupled with the mechanical breakdown of food into
smaller pieces allowing for a greater surface area for chemical digestion.
 B. Digestion – breakdown of food into particles, then into nutrient molecules small enough to be Chemical
digestion by enzymes involves breaking of chemical bonds through the addition of water, i.e., enzymatic
hydrolysis.
C. Absorption – passage of digested nutrients and fluid across the tube wall and into the
body fluids; the cells take up (absorb) small molecules such as amino acids and simple sugars.
D. Elimination –expulsion of the undigested and unabsorbed materials from the end of the gut.

2. The organs involved in food processing in the human digestive system:

A. The Oral Cavity, Pharynx, and Esophagus

I. Oral Cavity – it is where food is initially chewed into shreds by the teeth, and mixed with saliva by the
tongue. Saliva is secreted into the mouth by three pairs of salivary glands located above the upper jaw and
below the lower jaw.
II. Pharynx –the region in the back of the throat that serves as the entrance to the esophagus that connects to
the stomach and trachea (windpipe) that serves as airway to the lungs. To block breathing as food leaves
the pharynx, a flap-like valve (the epiglottis) and the vocal cords close off the trachea.
III. Esophagus – connects the pharynx with the stomach. No digestion takes place within the esophagus but
the contractions within its muscular wall propel the food past a sphincter, into the stomach. The rhythmic
waves of contraction of the smooth muscle wall of the esophagus are called peristaltic contractions or
peristalsis. The esophagus is about 25 cm (10 in.) long.

B. The Stomach
I. The stomach is a muscular, stretchable sac located just below the diaphragm. It has three important
functions. First, it mixes and stores ingested food. Second, it secretes gastric juice that helps dissolve and
degrade the food, particularly proteins. Third, it regulates the passage of food into the small intestine.
II. The gastric juice is a combination of HCl and acid-stable proteases.
III.The churning action of the stomach together with the potent acidity of the gastric juice convert food into a
thick, liquid mixture called chyme.

C. Small Intestine
I. The small intestine is approximately 6 meters long and is composed of three regions: the duodenum,
jejunum, and ileum.
II. It is where most enzymatic hydrolysis of the macromolecules from food occurs. The complete digestion of
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins occurs in the duodenum, about the first 25 cm. of the small intestine.
III. The rest of the small intestine is devoted to absorbing water and the products of digestion into the
bloodstream.
IV. Absorption of the end products of digestion takes place in the ileum, the surface area of which is increased
by villi and microvilli.

D. The Accessory Digestive Organs

I. Pancreas, Liver, and Gallbladder

E. The Large Intestine or Colon

I. The large intestine is much shorter than the small intestine, about 1 meter.
II. It concentrates and stores undigested matter by absorbing mineral ions and water. A small amount of fluid,
sodium, and vitamin K are absorbed through its walls.
III. Unlike the small intestine, it does not coil up and does not have villi and has only one-thirtieth
of the absorptive surface area of the small intestine.
 IV. Many bacteria live and thrive within the large intestine where they help process undigested material into the
final excretory product, feces.

F. The Rectum and Anus

I. The rectum is a short extension of the large intestine and is the final segment of the digestive tract. It is
where the compacted undigested food from the colon are pushed via peristaltic contractions.
II. The distention of the rectum triggers expulsion of feces.
III. The anus is the terminal opening of the digestive system through which feces are expelled.

3. Summary on the mechanisms of digestion and absorption:

A. Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth but could not continue in the stomach due to the acidic pH that
destroys the amylase. It resumes in the small intestine where the resulting monosaccharides are absorbed.
B. Proteins are digested in the stomach and small intestine. Resulting amino acids are absorbed in the small
intestine where they leave the intestinal cell and enter the blood through a facilitated diffusion carrier in the
plasma membranes on the opposite side.
C. Fat digestion occurs entirely in the small intestine. Although fatty acids and monoglycerides enter epithelial
cells from the intestinal lumen, it is triglycerides that are released on the other side of the cell and carried by blood
capillaries to be transported throughout the body.
D. Most water-soluble vitamins are absorbed by diffusion or active transport. Fat-soluble vitamins follow the
pathway for fat absorption.

4. How nutrients are delivered into cells:

A. Substances pass through the brush border cells that line the free surface of each villus by
active transport, osmosis, and diffusion across the lipid bilayer of plasma membranes.
B. The nutrients then proceed into the internal environment and pass to the blood which is
collected into the hepatic portal vein leading to the liver.
C. After flowing through the liver, the blood carrying the nutrients passes into the hepatic
vein which carries the blood back to the heart to be distributed to the different body
tissues.

5. Explain the regulation of digestion:

A. The digestive system of animals is regulated in part by other organ systems, especially the
nervous and endocrine systems.
B. The nervous system exerts control on the digestive system in two ways:
I. regulation of muscular and glandular activity by the local nerves in the alimentary canal; and
II. long-distance regulation by the brain.
C. Hormones regulate the rate of digestion.