Succession of Gut Microbial Structure in Twin Giant Pandas During the Dietary Change Stage and Its Role in Polysaccharide Metabolism

Zhan, Mingye; Wang, Lei; Xie, Chengrong; Fu, Xiaohua; Zhang, Shu; Wang, Aishan; Zhou, Yingmin; Xu, Chunzhong; Zhang, Hemin

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.551038

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Compared with other development stages, the intestinal bacterial flora structure of giant panda cubs was more complex, which may be related to the complex dietary shift process and active metabolism of giant panda cubs [ 14 ]. Therefore, it was speculated that the bacterial flora structure of giant panda cubs tends to be stable and that they initially have bamboo-eating adaptability, which was consistent with the results of the study of Guo et al [ 15 , 19 , 20 ]. Then, from the sub-adult stage to the prime of life, the abundance and diversity of intestinal bacterial structure increased or at least remained stable, when giant pandas had formed their digestive physiology, indicating a specific succession of intestinal microbiota in pandas during the development and with increasing bamboo-adapting diet.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Further, through correlation analysis and pathway analysis, we have a deeper understanding of the influence of the interaction between intestinal microbes on the cellulose digestion ability of giant pandas [ 49 ]. For instance, the abundance of Streptococcus increased, and it was shown that a positive correlation with the cellulase activity in adult pandas with bamboo diet depended on the interaction of other microflora, although it also preferred to use oligosaccharides such as Escheriachia-Shigella [ 20 ] and dietary fibre in supplementary food. Therefore, these findings reveal the important influence of the social behaviour of intestinal microbes on the growth and nutrition metabolism of giant pandas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Guo et al [ 19 ] found that during the giant panda cubs’ (0–1 years old) development and a substantial change in food, their intestinal flora structure was evident, especially the microbial diversity increased significantly in the first half year of age. The microbial structure of pandas that have consumed bamboo after the first year of age was different from that of panda, which was still fed with formula milk [ 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Succession of Intestinal Microbial Structure of Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during Different Developmental Stages and Its Correlation with Cellulase Activity

Wang¹,

Zhan

Enle³

2021

Animals

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The interaction between intestinal microbial flora and giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is indispensable for the healthy development of giant pandas. In this study, we analysed the diversity of bacteria and fungi in the intestines of six giant pandas (two pandas in each development stage) with a high-throughput sequencing technique to expand the relative variation in abundance of dominant microbes and potential cellulose-degradation genera in the intestines of the giant pandas and to explore the correlation between dominant microbial genera in the intestines and cellulose digestion activities of giant pandas. The results showed that the intestinal bacterial diversity of young giant pandas was higher than that of sub-adult and adult giant pandas, and Shannon’s diversity index was about 2.0. The intestinal bacterial diversity of giant pandas from sub-adult to adult (mature stage) stage showed an increasing trend, but the intestinal fungal diversity showed no considerable regular relations with their ages. The microbial composition and abundance of giant pandas changed in different developmental stages. Pearson correlation analysis and path analysis showed that there was a close relationship between the dominant microbes in the intestines of giant pandas, and the interaction between microbial genera might affect the cellulose digestion ability of giant pandas. Generally, the digestibility of cellulose degraders in pandas was still insufficient, with low enzymic activity and immature microbial structure. Therefore, the utilization and digestion of bamboo cellulose still might not be a main source of energy for pandas.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Succession of Intestinal Microbial Structure of Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during Different Developmental Stages and Its Correlation with Cellulase Activity

Wang¹,

Zhan

Enle³

2021

Animals

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“…The data are still insufficient to explain that this microbial flora assists in the giant panda's digestion of cellulose, but reflect that the gut flora may possess an adaptive process to the bamboo diet of giant panda. Zhan et al (2020) have investigated the ability of the gut microbial flora to digest cellulose by analyzing the microbial genome of the giant panda during its dietary shift during weaning, and found a succession of glycoside hydrolase genes appropriate for cellulose degradation. However, Zhang et al (2018) have conducted a similar investigation according to different sequencing and analysis methods, but proposed that the giant panda might live on the hemicellulose in bamboo, rather than on the cellulose.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike herbivorous mammals, which have rumens to ferment cellulose, the giant panda relies solely on the microbial flora in its hindgut ( Li et al, 2010 ; Wei et al, 2019 ). When researchers have studied the gut microbiome of the giant panda after dietary shift, they have detected no colonization by large cellulose-degrading microbial populations in this specialized species ( Zhan et al, 2020 ). However, in a study that analyzed the fecal microbial flora of bamboo-consuming animals, including the adult giant panda and two other species, McKenney et al (2018) have shown that all three species shared some specialized flora during their long-term adaptation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An amateur gut microbial configuration formed in giant panda for striving to digest cellulose in bamboo: Systematic evidence from intestinal digestive enzymes, functional genes and microbial structures

Zhan

Wang²,

Yao

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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The giant panda has been considered to maximize nutritional intake including protein and soluble carbohydrates in bamboo, but it has spent almost entire life with the high-cellulose diet. Whether giant panda is still helpless about digesting bamboo cellulose or not is always contentious among many researchers around the world. The work has systematically clarified this issue from the perspectives of digestive enzymes, functional genes, and microbial structures in giant panda gut. The intestinal cellulase activities of panda increase with bamboo consumption, performing that the endoglucanase activity of adults reaches 10-fold that of pandas first consuming bamboo. More abundance and types of microbial endoglucanase genes occur in bamboo-diet giant panda gut, and the corresponding GH5 gene cluster is still efficiently transcribed. Gut microbes possessing cellulose-degrading genes, belong to the phylum Firmicutes and some Bacteroidetes, but their structural and functional configurations are insufficient to completely degrade cellulose. Therefore, giant panda is striving to digest cellulose in bamboo, but this adaptation is incomplete. This is probably related to the short straight carnivore-like gut structure of the giant panda, preventing the colonization of some efficient functional but anaerobic-preferred flora.

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Age-related alterations in metabolome and microbiome provide insights in dietary transition in giant pandas

Liu,

Li,

Zhong

et al. 2023

mSystems

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We conducted UPLC-MS-based metabolomics, 16S rRNA, and metagenome sequencing on the fecal samples of 44 captive giant pandas ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) from four age groups (i.e., Cub, Young, Adult, and Old) to comprehensively understand age-related changes in the metabolism and gut microbiota of giant pandas. We characterized the metabolite profiles of giant pandas based on 1,376 identified metabolites, with 152 significantly differential metabolites (SDMs) found across the age groups. We found that the metabolites and the composition/function of the gut microbiota changed in response to the transition from a milk-dominant diet in panda cubs to a bamboo-specific diet in young and adult pandas. Lipid metabolites such as choline and hippuric acid were enriched in the Cub group, and many plant secondary metabolites were significantly higher in the Young and Adult groups, while oxidative stress and inflammatory related metabolites were only found in the Old group. However, there was a decrease in the α-diversity of gut microbiota in adult and old pandas, who exclusively consume bamboo. The abundance of bacteria related to the digestion of cellulose-rich food, such as Firmicutes, Streptococcus, and Clostridium, significantly increased from the Cub to the Adult group, while the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Faecalibacterium , Sarcina, and Blautia significantly decreased. Notably, several potential pathogenic bacteria had relatively high abundances, especially in the Young group. Metagenomic analysis identified 277 CAZyme genes including cellulose degrading genes, and seven of the CAZymes had abundances that significantly differed between age groups. We also identified 237 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) whose number and diversity increased with age. We also found a significant positive correlation between the abundance of bile acids and gut bacteria, especially Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium . Our results from metabolome, 16S rRNA, and metagenome data highlight the important role of the gut microbiota-bile acid axis in the regulation of age-related metabolism and provide new insights into the lipid metabolism of giant pandas. IMPORTANCE The giant panda is a member of the order Carnivora but is entirely herbivorous. The giant panda’s specialized diet and related metabolic mechanisms have not been fully understood. It is therefore crucial to investigate the dynamic changes in metabolites as giant pandas grow and physiologically adapt to their herbivorous diet. This study conducted UPLC-MS-based metabolomics 16S rRNA, and metagenome sequencing on the fecal samples of captive giant pandas from four age groups. We found that metabolites and the composition/function of gut microbiota changed in response to the transition from a milk-dominant diet in cubs to a bamboo-specific diet in young and adult pandas. The metabolome, 16S rRNA, and metagenome results highlight that the gut microbiota-bile acid axis has an important role in the regulation of age-related metabolism, and our study provides new insights into the lipid metabolism of giant pandas.

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Succession of Gut Microbial Structure in Twin Giant Pandas During the Dietary Change Stage and Its Role in Polysaccharide Metabolism

Cited by 5 publications

References 63 publications

Succession of Intestinal Microbial Structure of Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during Different Developmental Stages and Its Correlation with Cellulase Activity

Succession of Intestinal Microbial Structure of Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during Different Developmental Stages and Its Correlation with Cellulase Activity

An amateur gut microbial configuration formed in giant panda for striving to digest cellulose in bamboo: Systematic evidence from intestinal digestive enzymes, functional genes and microbial structures

Age-related alterations in metabolome and microbiome provide insights in dietary transition in giant pandas

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