Yao Ying, Zhao Wenjia, Xiang Guilin, Lv Ruiqing, Dong Yanpeng, Yan Honglin, Li Mingxi
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu 610081, China.
School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Feb 25;13(5):844. doi: 10.3390/ani13050844.
Bamboo part preference plays a critical role in influencing the nutrient utilization and gastrointestinal microbiota composition of captive giant pandas. However, the effects of bamboo part consumption on the nutrient digestibility and gut microbiome of geriatric giant pandas remain unknown. A total of 11 adult and 11 aged captive giant pandas were provided with bamboo shoots or bamboo leaves in the respective single-bamboo-part consumption period, and the nutrient digestibility and fecal microbiota of both adult and aged giant pandas in each period were evaluated. Bamboo shoot ingestion increased the crude protein digestibility and decreased the crude fiber digestibility of both age groups. The fecal microbiome of the bamboo shoot-fed giant pandas exhibited greater alpha diversity indices and significantly different beta diversity index than the bamboo leaf-fed counterparts regardless of age. Bamboo shoot feeding significantly changed the relative abundance of predominant taxa at both phylum and genus levels in adult and geriatric giant pandas. Bamboo shoot-enriched genera were positively correlated with crude protein digestibility and negatively correlated with crude fiber digestibility. Taken together, these results suggest that bamboo part consumption dominates over age in affecting the nutrient digestibility and gut microbiota composition of giant pandas.
竹子部位偏好对圈养大熊猫的营养利用和胃肠道微生物群组成具有关键影响。然而，食用竹子部位对老年大熊猫营养消化率和肠道微生物群的影响仍不清楚。在各自的单竹部位食用期内，为11只成年圈养大熊猫和11只老年圈养大熊猫分别提供竹笋或竹叶，并评估每个时期成年和老年大熊猫的营养消化率和粪便微生物群。食用竹笋提高了两个年龄组的粗蛋白消化率，降低了粗纤维消化率。无论年龄大小，食用竹笋的大熊猫的粪便微生物群比食用竹叶的大熊猫表现出更高的α多样性指数和显著不同的β多样性指数。食用竹笋显著改变了成年和老年大熊猫在门和属水平上主要类群的相对丰度。富含竹笋的属与粗蛋白消化率呈正相关，与粗纤维消化率呈负相关。综上所述，这些结果表明，在影响大熊猫的营养消化率和肠道微生物群组成方面，竹子部位的食用比年龄起着更主导的作用。
