Vampire bats rapidly fuel running with essential or nonessential amino acids from a blood meal - presented by Giulia Rossi

Vampire bats rapidly fuel running with essential or nonessential amino acids from a blood meal

Giulia Rossi

GR
Ecology and evolution seminars
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Royal Society Publishing
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Royal Society Publishing
Biology Letters

Associated Biology Letters article

G. S. Rossi and K. C. Welch (2024) Vampire bats rapidly fuel running with essential or non-essential amino acids from a blood meal. Biology Letters
Article of record
Vampire bats rapidly fuel running with essential or nonessential amino acids from a blood meal
GR
Giulia Rossi
McMaster University

In most mammals, running is fueled by oxidization of endogenous carbohydrates and lipids while amino acids contribute little (<5-10%). Common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus), however, specialize on a unique, protein-rich blood diet. Therefore, we hypothesized that a) vampire bats would rapidly begin utilizing dietary amino acids to support running metabolism, and b) that relative reliance on essential and non-essential amino acids would be similar. We fed bats cow’s blood enriched either with isotopically18 labeled glycine (non-essential amino acid) or leucine (essential amino acid). Bats were exercised at speeds of 1010, 2020, and 3030 mmin1m \cdot min^{-1} on a respirometry treadmill, allowing us to assess metabolic rate (i.e., O2O_2 consumption and CO2CO_2 production) and track the oxidation of labeled amino acids in exhaled CO2CO_2. Vampire bats oxidized amino acids as their primary fuel as indicated by a respiratory exchange ratio (RER = ratio of CO2CO_2 production to O2O_2 consumption rates) of approximately 0.8-0.9 at all speeds, with the labeled meal accounting for as much as 60% of oxidized fuels at peak usage. Similar oxidation rates indicated bats did not discriminate between essential and non-essential amino acid use. These findings reiterate how strongly metabolism can be shaped by a specialized diet.

References
  • 1.
    G. S. Rossi and K. C. Welch (2024) Vampire bats rapidly fuel running with essential or non-essential amino acids from a blood meal. Biology Letters
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