Dataset Information

The carnivorous digestive system and bamboo diet of giant pandas may shape their low gut bacterial diversity.

ABSTRACT: The gut microbiota diversity of eight panda cubs was assessed during a dietary switch.Gut microbiota diversity of panda cubs significantly decreased after bamboo consumption.Carnivorous species living on a plant-based diet possess low microbial diversity.Mice were fed a bamboo diet but did not display low gut microbiota diversity.Giant pandas have an exclusive diet of bamboo; however, their gut microbiotas are more similar to carnivores than herbivores in terms of bacterial composition and their functional potential. This is inconsistent with observations that typical herbivores possess highly diverse gut microbiotas. It is unclear why the gut bacterial diversity of giant pandas is so low. Herein, the dynamic variations in the gut microbiota of eight giant panda cubs were measured using 16S rRNA gene paired-end sequencing during a dietary switch. Similar data from red panda (an herbivorous carnivore) and carnivorous species were compared with that of giant pandas. In addition, mice were fed a high-bamboo diet (80% bamboo and 20% rat feed) to determine whether a bamboo diet could lower the gut bacterial diversity in a non-carnivorous digestive tract. The diversity of giant panda gut microbiotas decreased significantly after switching from milk and complementary food to bamboo diet. Carnivorous species living on a plant-based diet, including giant and red pandas, possess a lower microbial diversity than other carnivore species. Mouse gut microbiota diversity significantly increased after adding high-fibre bamboo to their diet. Findings suggest that a very restricted diet (bamboo) within a carnivorous digestive system might be critical for shaping a low gut bacterial diversity in giant pandas.

SUBMITTER: Guo W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7066643 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The carnivorous digestive system and bamboo diet of giant pandas may shape their low gut bacterial diversity.

Guo Wei W Chen Yinfeng Y Wang Chengdong C Ning Ruihong R Zeng Bo B Tang Jingsi J Li Caiwu C Zhang Mingwang M Li Yan Y Ni Qingyong Q Ni Xueqin X Zhang Hemin H Li Desheng D Zhao Jiangchao J Li Ying Y

Conservation physiology 20200313 1

The gut microbiota diversity of eight panda cubs was assessed during a dietary switch.Gut microbiota diversity of panda cubs significantly decreased after bamboo consumption.Carnivorous species living on a plant-based diet possess low microbial diversity.Mice were fed a bamboo diet but did not display low gut microbiota diversity.Giant pandas have an exclusive diet of bamboo; however, their gut microbiotas are more similar to carnivores than herbivores in terms of bacterial composition and their ...[more]

PMID: 32190328

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Project description:Giant pandas have developed a series of foraging strategies to adapt to their special bamboo diets. Although bamboo is an important food resource for giant pandas in Liziping National Nature Reserve (Liziping NR), China, there are relatively few studies on their phyllosphere fungal community and its influencing factors. Herein, we used ITS1 amplification and metagenomic sequencing to analyze the phyllosphere fungi diversity and functions (KEGG, CAZyme, and antibiotic resistance gene) and explore the influencing factors for the three giant pandas foraging bamboo species (Arundinaria spanostachya, AS; Yushania lineolate, YL; and Fargesia ferax, FF) over different seasons (spring vs. autumn) in Liziping NR, China. We found that Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the most dominant phyla in the bamboo phyllosphere. The alpha diversity (e.g., the Sobs index and Shannon index) was relatively higher in autumn samples than in spring samples, and the community structure differed significantly between the three bamboo species in spring and autumn. Some biotic and abiotic variables (e.g., the elevation and mean base diameter of bamboo) significantly influenced the abundance, diversity, and community structure of the bamboo phyllosphere fungal community. Moreover, the functional analysis showed the differences in the glycoside hydrolase community and antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) profile between spring and autumn samples. Co-occurrence network modeling suggested that AS phyllosphere fungal communities in autumn employed a much more complex network than that in spring, and the abundance of multidrug, tetracycline, and glycopeptide resistance genes was high and closely correlated with other ARGs. These results indicate that fungal community's abundance, diversity, and community structure are mainly affected by the season, host species, and elevation. The season and host species are major factors affecting the biological functions (KEGG and CAZyme), ARGs, and interactions between sympatric bacterial and fungal communities in bamboo phyllosphere. This integrated study can provide a reference basis for the seasonal management of bamboo resources foraged by wild giant pandas, and predict the risk of antibiotic resistance in bamboo phyllosphere fungal flora in Liziping NR (Xiaoxiangling mountains), China.

Project description:BackgroundIt is inevitable to change the function or expression of genes during the environmental adaption of species. Both the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red panda (Ailurus fulgens) belong to Carnivora and have developed similar adaptations to the same dietary switch to bamboos at the morphological and genomic levels. However, the genetic adaptation at the gene expression level is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to examine the gene expression patterns of giant and red panda convergent specialized bamboo-diets. We examined differences in liver and pancreas transcriptomes between the two panda species and other non-herbivorous species.ResultsThe clustering and PCA plots suggested that the specialized bamboo diet may drive similar expression shifts in these two species of pandas. Therefore, we focused on shared liver and pancreas DEGs (differentially expressed genes) in the giant and red panda relative to other non-herbivorous species. Genetic convergence occurred at multiple levels spanning carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, and lysine degradation. The shared adaptive convergence DEGs in both organs probably be an evolutionary response to the high carbohydrate, low lipid and lysine bamboo diet. Convergent expression of those nutrient metabolism-related genes in both pandas was an intricate process and subjected to multi-level regulation, including DNA methylation and transcription factor. A large number of lysine degradation and lipid metabolism related genes were hypermethylated in promoter regions in the red panda. Most genes related to carbohydrate metabolism had reduced DNA methylation with increased mRNA expression in giant pandas. Unlike the red panda, the core gene of the lysine degradation pathway (AASS) doesn't exhibit hypermethylation modification in the giant panda, and dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that transcription factor, NR3C1, functions as a transcriptional activator in AASS transcription through the binding to AASS promoter region.ConclusionsOur results revealed the adaptive expressions and regulations of the metabolism-related genes responding to the unique nutrients in bamboo food and provided data accumulation and research hints for the future revelation of complex mechanism of two pandas underlying convergent adaptation to a specialized bamboo diet.

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Dataset Information

The carnivorous digestive system and bamboo diet of giant pandas may shape their low gut bacterial diversity.

Publications

The carnivorous digestive system and bamboo diet of giant pandas may shape their low gut bacterial diversity.

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