The cellular localization of the peptide neurotransmitter proctolin was determined for larvae of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. Proctolin was recovered from the CNS, hindgut, and segmental bodywall using reverse-phase HPLC, and characterized by bioassay, immunoassay, and enzymatic analysis. A small, stereotyped population of proctolin-immunoreactive neurons was found in the larval CNS. S...

The composition of the bacterial communities in the contents of the foregut and hindgut of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and in the ambient surface sediment was surveyed by 16S rRNA gene 454-pyrosequencing. A total of 188,623 optimized reads and 15,527 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from the ten gut contents samples and four surface sediment samples. The sequences in...

1. The commonly used method of passing short-circuit current (/sc) across insect epithelia through Ag-AgCl electrodes, without the use of salt bridges, leads to significant OH~ production at the cathode (lumen side) when high currents are applied. 2. The alkalization of the lumen previously reported when cyclic AMP was added to short-circuited locust hindgut is a result of this phenomenon rathe...

During vertebrate embryogenesis, interaction between neural crest cells and the enteric mesenchyme gives rise to the development of the enteric nervous system. In birds, monoclonal antibody HNK-1 is a marker for neural crest cells from the entire rostrocaudal axis. In this study, we aimed to characterize the HNK-1 carrying cells and antigen(s) during the formation of the enteric nervous system ...

Chromosomal region 68D/E is required for various aspects of Drosophila gut development; within this region maps the Brachyury homolog T-related gene (Trg), DNA of which rescues the hindgut defects of deficiency 68D/E. From a screen of 13,000 mutagenized chromosomes we identified six non-complementing alleles that are lethal over deficiencies of 68D/E and show a hindgut phenotype. These mutation...

Currently, knowledge about the impact of long-term intake of high resistant starch diet on pig hindgut microbiota and metabolite profile is limited. In this study, a combination of the pyrosequencing and the mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics techniques were used to investigate the effects of a raw potato starch (RPS, high in resistant starch) diet on microbial composition and microbial ...

Wnt/beta-catenin signaling plays a central role in guiding the differentiation of the posterior parts of the primitive gut tube into intestinal structures in vivo and some studies suggest that FGF4 is another crucial factor for intestinal development. The aim of this study was to define the effects of Wnt and FGF4 on intestinal commitment in vitro by establishing conditions for differentiation ...

Elongation of the Drosophila embryonic hindgut epithelium occurs by a process of oriented cell rearrangement requiring the genes drumstick (drm) and lines (lin). The elongating hindgut becomes subdivided into domains -- small intestine, large intestine and rectum -- each characterized by a specific pattern of gene expression dependent upon normal drm and lin function. We show that drm encodes a...

To the editor, In addition to reducing weight, bariatric surgery could improve glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus [1, 2]. Such actions have mainly been explained by the foregut and the hindgut hypotheses. The foregut hypothesis claims that bariatric surgery removes endogenous substances that cause disturbance in glucose metabolism [3]. The hindgut hypothesis postulates...

The digestive systems of all species have been shaped by environmental pressures over long evolutionary time spans. Nevertheless, all digestive systems must achieve the same end points, the ingestion of biological material and its conversion to molecules that serve as energy substrates and structural components of tissues. A range of strategies to extract nutrients, including for animals relian...