CAS Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Sci China Life Sci. 2021 Jan;64(1):88-95. doi: 10.1007/s11427-020-1750-7. Epub 2020 Jun 29.
Gut microbiota plays a critical role in host physiology and health. The coevolution between the host and its gut microbes facilitates animal adaptation to its specific ecological niche. Multiple factors such as host diet and phylogeny modulate the structure and function of gut microbiota. However, the relative contribution of each factor in shaping the structure of gut microbiota remains unclear. The giant (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red (Ailurus styani) pandas belong to different families of order Carnivora. They have evolved as obligate bamboo-feeders and can be used as a model system for studying the gut microbiome convergent evolution. Here, we compare the structure and function of gut microbiota of the two pandas with their carnivorous relatives using 16S rRNA and metagenome sequencing. We found that both panda species share more similarities in their gut microbiota structure with each other than each species shares with its carnivorous relatives. This indicates that the specialized herbivorous diet rather than host phylogeny is the dominant driver of gut microbiome convergence within Arctoidea. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the symbiotic gut microbiota of both pandas possesses a high level of starch and sucrose metabolism and vitamin B12 biosynthesis. These findings suggest a diet-driven convergence of gut microbiomes and provide new insight into host-microbiota coevolution of these endangered species.
肠道微生物群在宿主生理学和健康中起着关键作用。宿主与其肠道微生物之间的共同进化促进了动物对其特定生态位的适应。宿主饮食和系统发育等多种因素调节肠道微生物群的结构和功能。然而，每个因素在塑造肠道微生物群结构中的相对贡献尚不清楚。大熊猫（Ailuropoda melanoleuca）和小熊猫（Ailurus styani）属于食肉目不同科的动物。它们进化为专性食竹动物，可以作为研究肠道微生物组趋同进化的模型系统。在这里，我们使用 16S rRNA 和宏基因组测序比较了这两种大熊猫与其肉食性近亲的肠道微生物群的结构和功能。我们发现，这两个熊猫物种在肠道微生物群结构上彼此之间的相似性大于每个物种与其肉食性近亲之间的相似性。这表明，专门的食草性饮食而不是宿主系统发育是大熊猫科内肠道微生物组趋同进化的主要驱动因素。宏基因组分析显示，这两种大熊猫的共生肠道微生物群具有高水平的淀粉和蔗糖代谢以及维生素 B12 生物合成。这些发现表明肠道微生物组的饮食驱动趋同，并为这些濒危物种的宿主-微生物群协同进化提供了新的见解。
