A giant panda's gut bacteria help it remain chubby while on a bamboo
diet

Date:
January 18, 2022
Source:
Cell Press
Summary:
The giant panda feeds exclusively on fibrous bamboo, yet they still
manage to stay chubby and healthy. Researchers reveal that shifts
in the bear's gut microbiota in the season when nutritious bamboo
shoots become available helps the herbivorous bear gain more weight
and store more fat, which may compensate for the lack of nutrients
in seasons when there are only bamboo leaves to chew on.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The giant panda feeds exclusively on fibrous bamboo, yet they still
manage to stay chubby and healthy. In a study published January 18 in the journal Cell Reports, researchers reveal that shifts in the bear's gut microbiota in the season when nutritious bamboo shoots become available
helps the herbivorous bear gain more weight and store more fat, which
may compensate for the lack of nutrients in seasons when there are only
bamboo leaves to chew on.


========================================================================== "This is the first time we established a causal relationship between a
panda's gut microbiota and its phenotype," says first author Guangping
Huang, at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. "We've
known these pandas have a different set of gut microbiota during the shoot-eating season for a long time, and it's very obvious that they
are chubbier during this time of the year." Many animals experience
a seasonal shift in gut bacteria as a result of changes in food
availability. For example, certain species of monkeys have different gut microbiota in summer when they get to eat fresh leaves and fruits compared
with that in winter when they feed on tree bark. A similar shift is also observed in the Hadza people, who are modern hunter-gatherers living in Tanzania, as the type of available food changes throughout the year.

The team, led by Fuwen Wei at the Institute of Zoology, has been studying
wild giant pandas living in the Qinling Mountains in central China for
decades. For most time of the year, these animals feed on fibrous bamboo leaves. But during late spring and early summer, they get to enjoy newly sprouted bamboo shoots that are rich in protein.

Wei says that these wild pandas have a significantly higher level
of a bacterium called Clostridium butyricum in their gut during the shoot-eating season compared with during the leaf-eating season. To
investigate whether the change in gut microbiota could affect a panda's metabolism, the team performed a fecal transplant of panda feces collected
in the wild to germ-free mice. Then they fed the mice with a bamboo-based
diet that simulated what pandas eat for 3 weeks.

Researchers found that mice transplanted with panda feces collected
during shoot-eating season gained significantly more weight and had more
fat than mice transplanted with feces from leaf-eating season despite
consuming the same amount of food. Further analysis revealed that the
metabolic product of C.

butyricum, butyrate, could upregulate the expression of a circadian rhythm
gene called Per2, which increases lipid synthesis and storage. The
seasonal changes of the gut microbiota of pandas synchronize host
peripheral circadian rhythm for modulating lipid metabolism.

"For endangered and vulnerable wild animals, we can't really run tests
on them directly. Our research created a mouse model for future fecal transplant experiments that can help study wild animals' gut microbiota,"
Huang says.

Next, the team plans to map out more microorganisms in the panda's gut
and find out about their roles in affecting the animal's health. "Causal research of host phenotype and gut microbiota in wild animals is just beginning.

Identifying what bacteria are beneficial for animals is very important,
because one day we may be able to treat some diseases with probiotics,"
Huang says.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Cell_Press. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Guangping Huang, Le Wang, Jian Li, Rong Hou, Meng Wang, Zhilin Wang,
Qingyue Qu, Wenliang Zhou, Yonggang Nie, Yibo Hu, Yingjie Ma,
Li Yan, Hong Wei, Fuwen Wei. Seasonal shift of the gut microbiome
synchronizes host peripheral circadian rhythm for physiological
adaptation to a low- fat diet in the giant panda. Cell Reports,
2022; 38 (3): 110203 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110203 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220118111354.htm

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