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Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread.
QCOM 177.78-2.2%Jan 9 9:30 AM EST
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To: foundation who wrote (5822)2/24/2003 4:53:34 PM
From: foundation  Read Replies (2) of 12247
 
Fresh secret of penguin dads revealed

15:00 22 February 03

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition

Male king penguins store undigested food in their stomachs for up to three weeks. The talent is unique among higher vertebrates and ensures a constant supply of food for their chicks. But how they do it was a mystery.

Now an analysis of the birds' stomach contents shows the penguins keep food fresh by destroying bacteria in their stomachs, suggesting that they produce an antibacterial agent in their digestive tracts.




Males use their stomach contents to feed chicks when bad weather delays the female returning with food. Tests on seven males on Possession Island that were incubating eggs and conserving food showed that their stomach temperatures and pH were ideal for bacterial growth, says Cécile Thouzeau at the CNRS, France's national research organisation, in Strasbourg.

The birds' high-protein diet of fish and squid should produce an abundance of gastrointestinal microbes. But when her team looked at samples from penguins conserving their food, they found many more dead or non- viable and malformed bacteria than in samples from birds that were digesting their meals.

The penguins could be suppressing the bacteria with acrylic acid, an antibacterial compound from phytoplankton, which is in turn found in the stomachs of the penguins' prey. But the birds appear to be able to switch on the preservation process, suggesting that they actively release one or more bactericidal agents.

Journal reference: Polar Biology (vol 26, p 115)

newscientist.com
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