GPD_Fecal16S
Characterization of cellulolytic symbionts among the core gut microbiota in giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
Despite being a member of the genus Carnivora, giant pandas consume a plant-based diet, bamboo being their major dietary component. Due to lack of putative enzymatic genes in their genome, the microbial contributions to cellulose metabolism in giant pandas have been questioned for a few decades. To determine the effects of dietary selection and herbivorous behavior on gastrointestinal microbiota in giant panda, we performed both massive parallel pyrosequencing of 16s rRNA genes and extensive cultural studies using the fresh fecal materials of giant pandas. The microbial profile was primarily predominated by either Proteobacteria or Firmicutes and diversity abundance reflects on the individual due to the individual animal’s selectiveness on bamboos species they ingest.  Numbers of observed species and diversity estimations indicated that giant pandas have preserved a higher bacterial diversity like other herbivorous animals. We also further analyzed a core gut bacterial community of the giant panda, from which we demonstrated putative cellulose-metabolizing symbionts. Therefore, the cellulose metablosim in giant panda’s gastrointestinal tract (GIT) may originate from symbiontic interactions among cellulolytic microbes. Using available cultural methods, we isolated at least seven different cellulolytic genera. Their roles in the digestive physiology of giant panda deserve to further investigation.  Moreover, the significant association of core gut mcirobiota of captive giant pandas with human microbiome may be explained by a shift in bacterial flora ecology due to the use of human care in hand rearing captive born giant pandas.