Influence of Diet Restriction on the Energy Metabolism and Digestive Tract Morphology in Passer montanus

Abstract:

In order to explore the influence of diet restriction on the physiological and biochemical indexes and digestive tract morphology in tree sparrow (Passer montanus). According to body weight, the sparrows were divided into the control group (groupⅠ), semi starvation group (groupⅡ), and 1/4 starvation group (group Ⅲ) , respectively. After hunger domestication, the body weight, fresh weight of organ, basal metabolic rate (BMR), body fat mass fraction, glycogen content, digestive energy, digestibility，the structure of digestive tract，such as length, villous height, villous width, mucous membrane layer thickness and the cross-sectional of intestinal wall were determined. The study found that with the increase of food restriction degree, the body weight, BMR fraction, body fat mass fraction, glycogen content, villus height, width and the cross-sectional area of the digestive tract showed a decline trend when compared with the groupⅠ, while the organ fresh weight, digestive energy, digestibility and digestive tract length have a trend of increasing. These results indicate that diet restriction is one of the important environmental factors that affect the morphology of digestive tract in tree sparrow. Under the condition of food restriction, tree sparrows reduce the body mass, increase energy intake, modify the structure of digestive tract, consume energy reserve of the body and reduce energy consumption to alleviate the survival pressure caused by food shortages.