Chapter 6 Outline
Nutrition
- Proteins are “foremost”
- Lipids are required for all membranes and are the principal storage compounds of animals
- Carbohydrates are low in abundance in many animals but highly abundant when they play structural roles
- Vitamins are essential organic compounds required in small amounts
- Elemental nutrition: Many minerals are essential nutrients
Feeding
- Many animals feed on organisms that are individually attacked and ingested
- Suspension feeding is common in aquatic animals
- Symbioses with microbes often play key roles in animal feeding and nutrition
- BOX 6.1 A Genomic Discovery: The Gut Microbiome
- BOX 6.2 Types of Meal Processing Systems
Digestion and Absorption
- Vertebrates, arthropods, and molluscs represent three important digestive–absorptive plans
- Digestion is carried out by specific enzymes operating in three spatial contexts
- BOX 6.3 The Digestive Systems of Arthropods and Bivalve Molluscs
- Absorption occurs by different mechanisms for hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules