In the case of amphibians, there is a dearth of information regarding nutrition, where research has been hampered by species’ physiological adaptations and their ectothermic nature, which make them especially sensitive to changes in environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, seasonality, photoperiodicity, rainfall, etc.) ( Duellman & Trueb, 1994 Carmona-Osalde et al., 1996 Ferrie et al., 2014). The nutritional requirements of species are fundamental to formulate adequate diets for captive individuals. The results indicate that frogs might have particular biochemical pathways for several nutrients, dependent on sex and linked to body weight, which ultimately could reflect specific nutrient needs. Important interactions were also found between body measurements and fat, calcium, and phosphorus, as well as between essential and non-essential amino acids. In addition, fatty acid profiles revealed more monounsaturated and n − 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in frogs than in fish, more similar to values reported for terrestrial than aquatic vertebrates. Amino acid profiles differed in methionine, proline and cysteine, which could underlie different metabolic pathways in frogs when compared to fish. Significant differences were found in morphometric measurements, water content, several minerals and fatty acids between sexes of X. The nutrient profile (macronutrients, amino acids, fatty acids and minerals) was evaluated by sex interactions among variables with body weights and lengths, and comparisons made with different species of marine and fresh water fish. Whole bodies of Xenopus laevis ( n = 19) were analysed for chemical composition and morphometrics. Gaining insights in the nutritional metabolism of amphibians: analyzing body nutrient profiles of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Cite this article Brenes-Soto A, Dierenfeld ES, Bosch G, Hendriks WH, Janssens GPJ. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Licence This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. 4 Animal Nutrition Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands DOI 10.7717/peerj.7365 Published Accepted Received Academic Editor Lisa Schwanz Subject Areas Biochemistry, Veterinary Medicine, Zoology Keywords Metabolism, Nutrition, Xenopus laevis, Body composition, Amino acids, Fatty acids Copyright © 2019 Brenes-Soto et al.
0 kommentar(er)
