Carbohydrates digestion and metabolism in the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus): biochemical indication for limited carbohydrate utilization

Leandro Rodríguez-Viera; Erick Perera; Vivian Montero-Alejo; Rolando Perdomo-Morales; Tsai García-Galano; Gonzalo Martínez-Rodríguez; Juan M Mancera

doi:10.7717/peerj.3975

Carbohydrates digestion and metabolism in the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus): biochemical indication for limited carbohydrate utilization

PeerJ. 2017 Nov 3:5:e3975. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3975. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Leandro Rodríguez-Viera^#^{1

2}, Erick Perera^#³, Vivian Montero-Alejo⁴, Rolando Perdomo-Morales⁴, Tsai García-Galano¹, Gonzalo Martínez-Rodríguez⁵, Juan M Mancera²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Marine Research, University of Havana, Havana, Havana, Cuba.
² Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR), University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain.
³ Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology, Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, Castellón, Valencia, Spain.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, Center for Pharmaceuticals Research and Development, Havana, Cuba.
⁵ ICMAN-CSIC, Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spian.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

As other spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus is supposed to use preferentially proteins and lipids in energy metabolism, while carbohydrates are well digested but poorly utilized. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary carbohydrate level on digestion and metabolism in the spiny lobster P. argus. We used complementary methodologies such as post-feeding flux of nutrients and metabolites, as well as measurements of α-amylase expression and activity in the digestive tract. Lobsters readily digested and absorbed carbohydrates with a time-course that is dependent on their content in diet. Lobster showed higher levels of free glucose and stored glycogen in different tissues as the inclusion of wheat flour increased. Modifications in intermediary metabolism revealed a decrease in amino acids catabolism coupled with a higher use of free glucose as carbohydrates rise up to 20%. However, this effect seems to be limited by the metabolic capacity of lobsters to use more than 20% of carbohydrates in diets. Lobsters were not able to tightly regulate α-amylase expression according to dietary carbohydrate level but exhibited a marked difference in secretion of this enzyme into the gut. Results are discussed to highlight the limitations to increasing carbohydrate utilization by lobsters. Further growout trials are needed to link the presented metabolic profiles with phenotypic outcomes.

Keywords: Carbohydrate; Carbohydrate digestion; Crustaceans; Energy metabolism; Gene expression; Glycemia; Lobster; Panulirus argus; α-amylase.

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through Project AGL2013-48835-C2-R and AGL2016-76069-C2-1-R granted to Juan M. Mancera, UCA-International fellowship granted to Leandro Rodriguez-Viera, and AUIP grant in the framework of the Academic Mobility Program between Andalusian and Ibero-American Universities associated to the AUIP granted to Leandro Rodríguez-Viera. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.