TY - JOUR T1 - Characterization of Bacterial Diversity in Captive Giant Panda Feces During the Diet Conversion Period AU - Peng, Guangneng AU - Ai, Shengquan AU - Fu, Hualin AU - Shen, Liuhong AU - Cao, Suizhong AU - Zhang, Hemin AU - Ren, Zhihua AU - Xie, Bingbing AU - Xu, Xiaoyang AU - Zhou, Xiaoxiao AU - Li, Gangshi AU - Zhong, Zhijun AU - Tang, Tianliang AU - Zhou, Zhiyao AU - Wang, Fangyuan AU - Gu, Wuyang AU - He, Tingmei AU - Li, Desheng AU - Liu, Xuehan AU - Wang, Chengdong AU - Yang, Yang AU - Luo, Yongjiu JO - Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances VL - 12 IS - 20 SP - 1541 EP - 1549 PY - 2013 DA - 2001/08/19 SN - 1680-5593 DO - javaa.2013.1541.1549 UR - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2013.1541.1549 KW - Giant panda KW -diet conversion period KW -bacterial diversity KW -feces KW -streptococcus AB - The diet conversion period (1-1.5 years) is a special time for the giant panda. During this period, giant pandas need to adapt from a high-protein diet to highly fibrous bamboo as their main food and form a special digestive system that will digest cellulose and hemicellulose. Previous studies have shown that diet alterations affect intestinal microbiota composition and host resistance. Intestinal microbiotas play a key role in the giant panda’s ability to digest highly fibrous bamboo. In this study, researchers constructed a 16S rRNA gene library from three giant pandas’ feces to investigate the diversity and structure of its bacterial population during the diet conversion period. Results showed that the diversity of intestinal bacteria during the earlier and later diet conversion periods is higher than at the middle diet conversion period. Intestinal floras within the giant panda gut were affiliated with the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria and uncultured bacterium. The phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the predominant bacteria throughout diet conversion although their proportions fluctuated. Within the phylum Firmicutes, the majority of bacteria were Clostridium, Streptococcus and Lactobacillus but while in the phylum Proteobacteria, the predominant bacteria were Escherichia and Acetobacter. This is the first study to monitor bacterial diversity in feces from captive giant pandas during the diet conversion period. ER -