Transport of leucine in the alimentary canal of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) and its dependence on season

Abstract An in vivo model was chosen to investigate the transport of the amino acid leucine within and out of the gastrointestinal tract. No nutritionally important amounts were transported from the crop into the haemolymph. When fed dissolved in water, most of ingested leucine was transported through the wall of the first two thirds of the midgut. Transport rates depended on the concentration of leucine and were not influenced by the presence of glucose, glycine, arginine or glutamic acid but were significantly lowered in the presence of isoleucine in vivo; the transport system in the midgut can thus be defined as carrier mediated. Only negligible amounts of the fed leucine reached the rectum passing through the midgut. Transport from midgut into the haemolymph was greater in summer than in winter. The oxidative metabolic fate of leucine could be shown soon after ingestion or injection into the haemolymph. Differences in intestinal transport mechanism for glucose and leucine are discussed.

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