The giant panda gut microbiome

Wei, Fuwen; Wang, Xiao; Wu, Qi

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2015.06.004

Cited by 59 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In addition, several studies have found that certain members of the gut microbiota of pandas play a leading role in the digestion of their unique bamboo diet (Wei, Wang, & Wu, ; Zhang et al, ; Zhu, Wu, Dai, Zhang, & Wei, ). Multiple factors also had an effect on giant panda's gut microbiota, such as seasonal variations (Xue et al, ), age (Zhang et al, ) and captivity (Wei et al, ). Despite sharing the same diet, the gut microbiota of the giant panda is distinct from that of the red panda and is clustered more closely to that of the black bear (Y. Li, Guo, et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota in reintroduction of giant panda

Tang

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Reintroduction is a key approach in the conservation of endangered species. In recent decades, many reintroduction projects have been conducted for conservation purposes, but the rate of success has been low. Given the important role of gut microbiota in health and diseases, we questioned whether gut microbiota would play a crucial role in giant panda's wild-training process. The wild procedure is when captive-born babies live with their mothers in a wilderness enclosure and learn wilderness survival skills from their mothers. During the wild-training process, the baby pandas undergo wilderness survival tests and regular physical examinations.Based on their performance through these tests, the top subjects (age 2-3 years old) are released into the wild while the others are translocated to captivity. After release, we tracked one released panda (Zhangxiang) and collected its fecal samples for 5 months (January 16, 2013 to March 29 2014). Here, we analyzed the Illumina HiSeq sequencing data (V4 region of 16S rRNA gene) from captive pandas (n = 24), wild-training baby pandas (n = 8) of which 6 were released and 2 were unreleased, wild-training mother pandas (n = 8), one released panda (Zhangxiang), and wild giant pandas (n = 18). Our results showed that the gut microbiota of wild-training pandas is significantly different from that of wild pandas but similar to that of captive ones.The gut microbiota of the released panda Zhangxiang gradually changed to become similar to those of wild pandas after release. In addition, we identified several bacteria that were enriched in the released baby pandas before release, compared with the unreleased baby pandas. These bacteria include several known gut-health related beneficial taxa such as Roseburia, Coprococcus, Sutterella, Dorea, and Ruminococcus. Therefore, our results suggest that certain members of the gut microbiota may be important in panda reintroduction. K E Y W O R D SAiluropoda melanoleuca, giant panda, gut microbiota, reintroduction, wild-training | 1013 TANG eT Al.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota in reintroduction of giant panda

Tang

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Despite this, they have survived on a bamboo diet probably for more than 2 million years (Myr). The monotonous diet has probably resulted in a number of morphological, ecological and genetic adaptations (Wei et al 2015b). Giant pandas have a pseudothumb on the forepaw, and have evolved a strong mandible and flattened teeth to help them chew and eat bamboo (Endo et al 1999;Zhao et al 2010).…”

Section: Comparative Genomics Reveals Bamboo Feeding Adaptability In mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, little is known about the molecular mechanisms by which giant pandas adapt to bamboo diets. Some studies have shown that giant panda's digestion of bamboo mainly depends on its gut microbiota ( Li et al 2010;Wei et al 2015b;Guo et al 2018;Zhang et al 2018). It is unknown as to what caused the adaptive changes in giant pandas.…”

Section: Comparative Genomics Reveals Bamboo Feeding Adaptability In mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative genomics reveals bamboo feeding adaptability in the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

He¹,

Hsu²,

Hou³

et al. 2020

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The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is one of the world’s most endangered mammals and remains threatened as a result of intense environmental and anthropogenic pressure. The transformation and specialization of the giant panda’s diet into a herbivorous diet have resulted in unique adaptabilities in many aspects of their biology, physiology and behavior. However, little is known about their adaptability at the molecular level. Through comparative analysis of the giant panda’s genome with those of nine other mammalian species, we found some genetic characteristics of the giant panda that can be associated with adaptive changes for effective digestion of plant material. We also found that giant pandas have similar genetic characteristics to carnivores in terms of olfactory perception but have similar genetic characteristics to herbivores in terms of immunity and hydrolytic enzyme activity. Through the analysis of gene family expansion, 3752 gene families were found, which were enriched in functions such as digestion. A total of 93 genes under positive selection were screened out and gene enrichment identified these genes for the following processes: negative regulation of cellular metabolic process, negative regulation of nitrogen compound metabolic process, negative regulation of macromolecule metabolic process and negative regulation of metabolic process. Combined with the KEGG pathway, it was found that genes such as CREB3L1, CYP450 2S1, HSD11B2, LRPAP1 play a key role in digestion. These genes may have played a key role in the pandas’ adaptation to its bamboo diet.

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“…This is especially true in wild birds and mammals due to permit limitations and ethical issues [8]. Consequently, many mammalian and avian microbiome studies utilize non-invasive methods (e.g., feces or cloacal swabs) [2,[9][10][11], which also provide opportunities to explore rare and endangered animals without negatively affecting host populations [12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cloacal swabs and alcohol bird specimens are good proxies for compositional analyses of gut microbial communities of Great tits (Parus major)

et al. 2020

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Background: Comprehensive studies of wild bird microbiomes are often limited by difficulties of sample acquisition. However, widely used non-invasive cloacal swab methods and under-explored museum specimens preserved in alcohol provide promising avenues to increase our understanding of wild bird microbiomes, provided that they accurately portray natural microbial community compositions. To investigate this assertion, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of Great tit (Parus major) gut microbiomes to compare 1) microbial communities obtained from dissected digestive tract regions and cloacal swabs, and 2) microbial communities obtained from freshly dissected gut regions and from samples preserved in alcohol for 2 weeks or 2 months, respectively. Results: We found no significant differences in alpha diversities in communities of different gut regions and cloacal swabs (except in OTU richness between the dissected cloacal region and the cloacal swabs), or between fresh and alcohol preserved samples. However, we did find significant differences in beta diversity and community composition of cloacal swab samples compared to different gut regions. Despite these community-level differences, swab samples qualitatively captured the majority of the bacterial diversity throughout the gut better than any single compartment. Bacterial community compositions of alcohol-preserved specimens did not differ significantly from freshly dissected samples, although some low-abundant taxa were lost in the alcohol preserved specimens. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cloacal swabs, similar to non-invasive fecal sampling, qualitatively depict the gut microbiota composition without having to collect birds to extract the full digestive tract. The satisfactory depiction of gut microbial communities in alcohol preserved samples opens up for the possibility of using an enormous resource readily available through museum collections to characterize bird gut microbiomes. The use of extensive museum specimen collections of birds for microbial gut analyses would allow for investigations of temporal patterns of wild bird gut microbiomes, including the potential effects of climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Overall, the utilization of cloacal swabs and museum alcohol specimens can positively impact bird gut microbiome research to help increase our understanding of the role and evolution of wild bird hosts and gut microbial communities.

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The giant panda gut microbiome

Cited by 59 publications

References 10 publications

Gut microbiota in reintroduction of giant panda

Gut microbiota in reintroduction of giant panda

Comparative genomics reveals bamboo feeding adaptability in the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Cloacal swabs and alcohol bird specimens are good proxies for compositional analyses of gut microbial communities of Great tits (Parus major)

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