How can giant pandas get so fat if they only eat plants that have virtually no fat?
Giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, feeds exclusively on bamboo, a very fibrous plant. So, what is your large body mass due to?
A team of Chinese researchers focused on analyzing the community of microorganisms present in the gut of a billion giant pandas based on their fecal samples.
That’s how they discovered a bacterium called Clostridium butyricum, also present in the human intestine, which can increase fat production and storage during a short period of the year when nutritious bamboo shoots are available.
Changing the gut microbiota
From late spring to early summer, pandas feed on new bamboo shoots that contain higher nutritional value, gaining weight.
Many animals experience a seasonal change in gut bacteria as a result of changes in food availability.
This is also the case with the giant pandas that take advantage of these new bamboo shoots to fill themselves with protein.
The most surprising finding in the case of panda’s persistent fat is that scientists were able to link the animal’s appearance to the changing internal environment within its intestines.
“This is the first time that we have established a causal relationship between a panda’s gut microbiota and its phenotype.said Guangping Huang, co-author of the study. “We’ve known for a long time that these pandas have a different set of gut microbiota during the bud-feeding season, and it’s pretty obvious that they are at their fattest during this time of year.“.
In the future, the research team plans to identify more microorganisms in the panda’s gut and discover their role in the animal’s health.
Open AccessDOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110203
Find out more about pandas here: Why are pandas black and white?