Learning Objectives

How and why do digestive system

structures vary in different animals?
What are the primary structures of the
digestive system and what function do
they serve?
What role does surface area play in the
absorption of nutrients and water?
What feedback mechanisms regulate
digestion and absorption?
1
 Overview: The Need to Feed

Food is taken in, taken apart, and taken up in the

process of animal nutrition
In general, animals fall into three categories
Herbivores eat mainly plants and algae
Carnivores eat other animals
Omnivores regularly consume animals as well as
plants or algae
Most animals are also opportunistic feeders

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Nonruminant Herbivore Ruminant Herbivore

Four-chambered stomach with large rumen;

Simple stomach, large cecum
long small and large intestine

Esophagus
Esophagus Rumen
Stomach Reticulum Abomasum
Omasum
Small
intestine
Small
intestine
Cecum
Cecum
Spiral
Large loop Large
intestine intestine
Anus Anus

Insectivore Carnivore

Short intestine, no cecum Short intestine and colon, small cecum

Small Esophagus
Esophagus
intestine Stomach
Stomach
Small
intestine

Large
intestine Cecum

Anus Large intestine

Anus

Digestive systems of different mammals

3
 Concept 33.2: Food processing involves ingestion,
digestion, absorption, and elimination
Food processing can be divided into four distinct
stages:
Ingestion
Digestion
Absorption
Elimination

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Concept 33.3: Organs specialized for sequential
stages of food processing form the mammalian
digestive system
The mammalian digestive system consists of an
alimentary canal and accessory glands that secrete
digestive juices through ducts
Mammalian accessory glands are the salivary
glands, the pancreas, the liver, and the gallbladder

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.7

Tongue Oral cavity

Salivary
glands Pharynx

Esophagus

Liver

Gallbladder
Stomach
Pancreas
Small
intestine
Large
intestine
Rectum
Anus
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Food is pushed along by peristalsis, rhythmic
contractions of muscles in the wall of the canal
Valves called sphincters regulate the movement of
material between compartments

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Salivary gland
Oral cavity Pharynx
Salivary
glands Esophagus

Liver Stomach
Gallbladder Pancreas
Small intestine

Large intestine
Cecum
Appendix
Rectum
8
Anus
Mouth and Teeth
Many vertebrates have teeth Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

used for chewing or

mastication Mouth

Birds Esophagus

Crop

Lack teeth Stomach

Break up food in a two- Gizzard

Intestine

chambered stomach Anus

Gizzard muscular chamber

that uses ingested pebbles to
pulverize food 9
 Digestion in the Stomach

The stomach stores food and secretes gastric

juice, which converts a meal to a mixture of food
and digestive juice called chyme

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.8

Epithelium

Interior surface
of stomach 3 The production of
gastric juice
Pepsinogen Pepsin
Pepsinogen and HCl
Gastric gland (active
HCl enzyme) are introduced into the
Chief lumen of the stomach.
cell 1
HCl converts
Mucous cells pepsinogen to pepsin.
H
Cl
Pepsin then activates
Chief cells Parietal more pepsinogen,
cell starting a chain
reaction. Pepsin
Parietal cells begins the chemical
digestion of proteins.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Mucus protects the stomach lining from gastric juice
Also, cell division adds a new epithelial layer every
three days, to replace any cells damaged by
digestive juices
Gastric ulcers, lesions in the stomach lining, are
caused mainly by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Digestion in the Small Intestine

The small intestine is the longest section of the

alimentary canal
It is the major organ of digestion and absorption
The first portion of the small intestine is the
duodenum
Here, chyme from the stomach mixes with digestive
juices from the pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and the
intestinal wall

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 The pancreas produces proteases trypsin and
chymotrypsin, which are activated in the lumen of
the duodenum
Its solution is alkaline and neutralizes the acidic
chyme

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 In the small intestine, bile aids in digestion and
absorption of fats
Bile is made in the liver and stored in the
gallbladder
Bile also destroys nonfunctional red blood cells

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.9
CARBOHYDRATE DIGESTION
ORAL
CAVITY,
Polysaccharides Disaccharides
(starch, glycogen) (sucrose, lactose)
Inacarnivore,whatchemicalswouldbe
PHARYNX, mostabundant?
ESOPHAGUS Salivary amylase

Smaller Maltose
polysaccharides PROTEIN DIGESTION

STOMACH Proteins
Pepsin

Small polypeptides NUCLEIC ACID DIGESTION FAT DIGESTION

SMALL DNA, RNA Fat (triglycerides)
INTESTINE
(enzymes Pancreatic amylases Pancreatic trypsin and
Pancreatic
from chymotrypsin
nucleases
pancreas) Disaccharides

Nucleotides Pancreatic lipase

Smaller
polypeptides

Pancreatic carboxypeptidase

Glycerol, fatty acids,

Small peptides
monoglycerides
SMALL Nucleotidases
INTESTINE Dipeptidases, carboxy-
(enzymes peptidase, and Nucleosides
from Disaccharidases aminopeptidase
intestinal Nucleosidases
epithelium) and
phosphatases

Nitrogenous bases,
Monosaccharides Amino acids sugars, phosphates
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Absorption in the Small Intestine

The small intestine has a huge surface area, due to

villi and microvilli that project into the intestinal
lumen
The enormous microvillar surface creates a brush
border that greatly increases the rate of nutrient
absorption
Transport across the epithelial cells can be passive
or active depending on the nutrient

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.10

Epithelial cells
Vein carrying of a villus
blood to liver Villi Nutrient absorption

Microvilli

Blood Amino Fatty

capillaries acids acids and
and mono-
sugars glycerides
Epithelial
cells Fats
Muscle layers
Villi Large
circular Blood
folds
Lacteal

Intestinal Lymph Lymph

vessel
wall

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Processing in the Large Intestine

The colon of the large intestine is connected to

the small intestine
The cecum aids in the fermentation of plant
material and connects where the small and large
intestines meet
The human cecum has an extension called the
appendix, which plays a very minor role in
immunity

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.12

Ascending
portion
of colon
Small
intestine

Appendix

Cecum

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 A major function of the colon is to recover water that
has entered the alimentary canal
The colon houses bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli)
that live on unabsorbed organic material; some
produce vitamins
Feces, including undigested material and bacteria,
become more solid as they move through the colon

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.UN02

Veins to heart Hepatic portal vein

Lymphatic system
Liver

Absorbed food Absorbed

Mouth Stomach (except lipids) water
Esophagus Lipids

Small intestine Anus

Secretions Secretions
from salivary from gastric Secretions from liver Large Rectum
glands glands Secretions from pancreas intestine

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 What is NOT true about the human large
intestine?
A. It compacts and stores undigested materials
until their excretion as feces.
B. It contains three relatively straight segments
with no villi.
C. Sodium, vitamin K and other bacterial
metabolic products are absorbed across its wall.
D. About 4% of fluid absorption takes place in it.
E. It is longer than the small intestine.

23
 Concept 33.4: Evolutionary adaptations of vertebrate
digestive systems correlate with diet
Digestive systems of vertebrates are variations on a
common plan
However, there are intriguing adaptations, often
related to diet

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Stomach and Intestinal Adaptations

Adaptation is apparent in the length of the digestive

system in different vertebrates
Many carnivores have large, expandable stomachs
Herbivores and omnivores generally have longer
alimentary canals than carnivores, reflecting the
longer time needed to digest vegetation

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.14

Small intestine
Small
Stomach
intestine

Cecum

Colon
(large
Carnivore intestine)

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Herbivore
Figure 33.15

100
Uninfected
individuals
80
Percent of sampled

Individuals with
stomach bacteria

H. pylori infection
60

40
H. pylori
20

0
ria e s e s ria ria
t t Whyisitbeneficialto
cte cu d e cte cte
a i o i a a haveadiversityof
b rm r b b
it n
o Fi cte t eo so bacteriainthegut?
c B
a r o Fu
A P
Phylum
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Mutualistic Adaptations in Herbivores

Many vertebrates host mutualistic bacteria and

protists in fermentation chambers of their alimentary
canals
These microorganisms can digest cellulose to
simple sugars and other compounds
The most elaborate adaptations for herbivorous
diets have evolved in ruminants, the cud-chewing
animals that include deer, sheep, and cattle

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 33.16

Reticulum Rumen

Esophagus

Intestine
Omasum
Abomasum

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Regulation of Digestion

Each step in the digestive system is activated as

needed
The enteric division of the nervous system helps to
regulate the digestive process
The endocrine system also regulates digestion
through the release and transport of hormones

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Reproduction and Growth

Low levels of leptin can

Appetite and Feeding inhibit reproduction and
growth. Energy and Expenditure
High levels of leptin and
insulin reduce appetite. Low High levels of leptin and
levels increase appetite. insulin increase energy
expenditure.
Hypothalamus

Efferent

Afferent
Leptin () (+)
Ghrelin
Long Term Short Term
() ()
Circulating levels of leptin CCK and GIP are
Insulin produced in response to
and insulin are proportional
to body fat. High body fat GIP feeding and act to limit
leads to high levels of CCK food intake. Ghrelin
these hormones. stimulates feeding.

31
 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Stomach

Liver pH
Proteins Gastrin

(+) (+)
() Chief cells Parietal cells
GIP
Pepsin HCl

Bile
(+)
Pancreas Enzymes Acinar
Bicarbonate cells

Gallbladder (+) (+)

CCK
What would
happen if GIP
Secretin receptors were
Duodenum blocked?
32
 Ghrelin, a hormone secreted by the stomach wall,
triggers a feeling of hunger before meals
Insulin and PYY, a hormone secreted by the small
intestine after eating, both suppress appetite
Leptin, a hormone produced by adipose (fat) tissue,
also suppresses appetite and may regulate body fat
levels

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Learning Objectives
How and why do digestive system
structures vary in different animals?
What are the primary structures of the
digestive system and what function do
they serve?
What role does surface area play in the
absorption of nutrients and water?
What feedback mechanisms regulate
digestion and absorption?
34