Guangneng  Peng, Shengquan  Ai, Hualin  Fu, Liuhong  Shen, Suizhong  Cao, Hemin  Zhang, Zhihua  Ren, Bingbing  Xie, Xiaoyang  Xu, Xiaoxiao  Zhou, Gangshi  Li, Zhijun  Zhong, Tianliang  Tang, Zhiyao  Zhou, Fangyuan  Wang, Wuyang  Gu, Tingmei  He, Desheng  Li, Xuehan  Liu, Chengdong  Wang, Yang  Yang, Yongjiu  Luo, 
    Characterization of Bacterial Diversity in Captive Giant Panda Feces During the Diet Conversion Period,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 12,Issue 20,
    2013,
    Pages 1541-1549,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2013.1541.1549,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2013.1541.1549)
    Abstract: 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 <I>16S 
  rRNA</I> gene library from three giant pandas&#146; 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.
    Keywords: Giant panda;diet conversion period;bacterial diversity;feces;streptococcus