Effective amino acid composition of seaweeds inducing food preference behaviors in Aplysia kurodai

Aplysia kurodai feeds on Ulva but rejects Gelidium and Pachydictyon with distinct patterned jaw movements. We previously demonstrated that these movements are induced by taste alone. Thus some chemicals may contribute to induction of these responses. We explored the amino acids composition of Ulva, Gelidium and Pachydictyon extracts used during our taste-induced physiological experiments. These solutions contained many constituents. The concentrations of six amino acids (Asp, Asn, Glu, Gln, Phe, Tau) were obviously different in the three extract solutions. We explored patterned jaw movements following application of solutions containing a pure amino acid. We statistically compared the occurrence numbers of ingestion-like and rejection-like patterned jaw movements (positive and negative values, respectively) for each amino acid. Our results suggested that l-Asn tends to induce ingestion-like responses, likely resulting in a preference of Ulva. In contrast, l-Asp tends to induce rejection-like responses, likely resulting in aversion towards Pachydictyon. In addition, we demonstrated that l-Asn and l-Asp solutions were sufficient to induce muscle activity associated with ingestion-like or rejection-like responses in the jaw muscles of a semi-intact preparation.