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First published online January 8, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 340-356 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02626

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Adaptive regulation of digestive performance in the genus Python

Brian D. Ott^* and Stephen M. Secor

Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0344, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: brian.d.ott{at}ua.edu)

Accepted 31 October 2006

The adaptive interplay between feeding habits and digestive physiology is demonstrated by the Burmese python, which in response to feeding infrequently has evolved the capacity to widely regulate gastrointestinal performance with feeding and fasting. To explore the generality of this physiological trait among pythons, we compared the postprandial responses of metabolism and both intestinal morphology and function among five members of the genus Python: P. brongersmai, P. molurus, P. regius, P. reticulatus and P. sebae. These infrequently feeding pythons inhabit Africa, southeast Asia and Indonesia and vary in body shape from short and stout (P. brongersmai) to long and slender (P. reticulatus). Following the consumption of rodent meals equaling 25% of snake body mass, metabolic rates of pythons peaked at 1.5 days at levels 9.9- to 14.5-fold of standard metabolic rates before returning to prefeeding rates by day 6-8. Specific dynamic action of these meals (317-347 kJ) did not differ among species and equaled 23-27% of the ingested energy. For each species, feeding triggered significant upregulation of intestinal nutrient transport and aminopeptidase-N activity. Concurrently, intestinal mass doubled on average for the five species, in part due to an 85% increase in mucosal thickness, itself a product of 27-59% increases in enterocyte volume. The integrative response of intestinal functional upregulation and tissue hypertrophy enables each of these five python species, regardless of body shape, to modulate intestinal performance to meet the demands of their large infrequent meals.

Key words: Adaptive response, digestion, intestinal enzyme, intestinal nutrient transport, Python, reptile, specific dynamic action

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PYTHONS PAUSE POSTPRANDIALLY

Laura Blackburn
JEB 2007 210: iii. [Full Text]  

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				C. L. Cox and S. M. Secor Matched regulation of gastrointestinal performance in the Burmese python, Python molurus J. Exp. Biol., April 1, 2008; 211(7): 1131 - 1140. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. M. Christel, D. F. DeNardo, and S. M. Secor Metabolic and digestive response to food ingestion in a binge-feeding lizard, the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) J. Exp. Biol., October 1, 2007; 210(19): 3430 - 3439. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Blackburn PYTHONS PAUSE POSTPRANDIALLY J. Exp. Biol., January 15, 2007; 210(2): iii - iii. [Full Text] [PDF]