Abstract
Feeding and passage of nutrient particles through the digestive tract of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis was examined using the following types of particles: yeast cells, mammalian (human, bovine, ovine) erythrocytes and erythrocyte-ghosts. The decrease of erythrocytes within the medium was found to follow first order kinetics. The rate constant was influenced by the density of rotifers, as well as by the initial density of particles in suspension at the beginning of the experiment. Passage of particles through the digestive tract depended on the supply of fresh particles taken up by the wheel organ. Passage time approximately doubled when the rotifers had no access to fresh particles. On provision of fresh particles, the contents of the digestive tract were expelled even if they included absorbable substances. The contents of the digestive tract of B. plicatilis can be quickly and easily exchanged by introducing a new type of particle to the medium. By replacing fluorescence-labelled erythrocyte ghosts with unlabelled ghosts, residual fluorescence indicating absorptive processes could be demonstrated.
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