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IB faculty publish work in Biology Letters
[06.10.2013]

TAMPA, Fla. -- Matthew Venesky and Jason Rohr from the University of South Florida’s Department of Integrative Biology co-authored a paper along with several researchers from the University of Memphis on a study about changes in intestinal length in southern leopard frog tadpoles in response to infection with the fungus pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

The researchers tested the theory of optimal digestion to see if tadpole intestinal length would increase to compensate for the infection. Their study found that although the infection damaged the tadpole mouth, limiting food consumption, the intestinal tract did not increase in length to compensate for reduction in food intake to allow for greater nutrient uptake from the food ingested. The intestinal tract actually shrank in length.

Their findings are published in the journal Biology Letters.

-USF-

Filed under:Integrative Biology     
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