Journal of Chemical Ecology (1999) 25, 611-628

M. Zimmer (1999)
The fate and effects of ingested hydrolyzable tannins in Porcellio scaber
Journal of Chemical Ecology 25 (3), 611-628
Abstract: When adults of Porcellio scaber fed on litter prior to an artificial diet containing 5% of commercially available tannic acid, 55% of the ingested galloylglucose esters was excreted unchanged, about 25% was hydrolyzed, and 20% was oxidized during the gut passage. After reducing the counts of microorganisms in the gut of P. scaber, the data obtained indicated an important role of ingested platable microorganisms in hydrolyzing gallotannins. Oxidation of phenolics appeared to be mainly due to the endosymbiotic bacteria of the hepatopancreas. Microbial counts in the hindgut were strongly reduced by ingested galloylglucose esters, while gallic acid in the diet (2%) reduced the number of palatable fungi and bacteria less strikingly, and increased the total number of the gut microbiota. Hepatopancreatic bacteria were only slightly affected by ingested tannic acid, since the hepatopancreas contained only few galloylglucose esters. This may be due to the permeability of the hindgut cuticle: the cuticle of the anterior hindgut was freely permeable to gallic acid, while it was nearly impermeable to larger polyphenols. The cuticle of the posterior hindgut was permeable to only about 4% of the gallic acid present in the hindgut lumen. The results are discussed with respect to potentially harmful effects of ingested hydrolyzable tannins and their digestion in Porcellio scaber.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Porcellio scaber