Data from: A novel pathway of nutrient absorption in crustaceans: branchial amino acid uptake in the green shore crab (Carcinus maenas)

Estuaries are environments enriched with dissolved nutrients such as amino acids. To date, marine arthropods are the only invertebrate group that have not been demonstrated to access this potentially important nutrient resource. Using in vitro gill perfusion techniques, we sought to investigate the ability of the green shore crab (Carcinus maenas) to take up the amino acid l-leucine directly from the water. Investigation of the concentration-dependent transport kinetics of radiolabelled l-leucine showed that there are two specific transport pathways across Carcinus gills, one with high affinity and low capacity, and the other with high capacity and low affinity. Using putative competitive substrates and reduced sodium preparations, we were able to identify the putative amino acid transport system associated with high-affinity uptake. This is the first study to demonstrate the absorption of dissolved organic nutrients across the gill epithelium of a marine arthropod.

河口是富含氨基酸等溶解态营养物质的生境。迄今为止，海洋节肢动物是唯一未被证实可利用这一潜在重要营养资源的无脊椎动物类群。本研究采用体外鳃灌流技术，旨在探究普通滨蟹（Carcinus maenas）直接从水体中摄取氨基酸L-亮氨酸的能力。针对放射性标记L-亮氨酸的浓度依赖性转运动力学研究结果表明，普通滨蟹的鳃组织存在两种特异性转运通路：一种为高亲和力低容量通路，另一种为高容量低亲和力通路。借助推定的竞争性底物与低钠制备体系，本研究成功鉴定出与高亲和力摄取相关的推定氨基酸转运系统。本研究首次证实，海洋节肢动物可通过鳃上皮吸收溶解态有机营养物质。