Project description:The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) stands as a flagship and umbrella species, symbolizing global biodiversity. While traditional assisted reproductive technology faces constraints in safeguarding the genetic diversity of giant pandas and bolstering the population size of giant pandas, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) known for their capacity to differentiate into diverse cells types, including germ cells, present a transformative potential for conservation of endangered animals. In our study, we isolated primary fibroblast cells from an individual giant panda and successfully generated giant panda induced pluripotent stem cells (GPiPSCs) through a non-integrating episomal vectors reprogramming method. Characterization of these GPiPSCs revealed their state of primed pluripotency and demonstrated their potential for differentiation. Furthermore, we innovatively formulated a species-specific chemically defined FACL medium and unraveled the intricate signaling pathway networks responsible for maintaining the pluripotency and fostering cell proliferation of GPiPSCs. This study provides key insights into rare species iPSCs, offering materials for panda characteristics research and laying the groundwork for in vitro giant panda gamete generation, potentially aiding endangered species conservation.
Project description:The iconic giant panda is an endangered species known worldwide for its peculiar dietary habits. While retaining the digestive system of a carnivore, the giant panda successfully moved into a diet almost exclusively based on bamboo. Digestion of lignocellulose is believed to be conducted solely by its gut microbiome, provided that no lignocellulose-degrading enzyme was found in the giant panda’s genome. Many reports focused on which lignocellulose component feeds the giant panda, while little effort was made to link the products of bamboo fermentation to the panda’s dietary choices. In the present study, fermentation of either green leaves or yellow pith was conducted in the laboratory using gut microbiomes derived from either green or yellow stools, respectively. Green leaves were fermented to ethanol, lactate and acetate, while yellow pith to lactate resembling, respectively, hetero/homo-fermentation patterns. Several microbial pathways (assessed by metaproteomics) related to hemicellulose rather than cellulose degradation. However, alpha-amylases (E.C. 3.2.1.1) from the giant panda itself were the most predominant enzyme (up to 60% of all metaproteins), indicating that they have a primary role in bamboo digestion. The distinct fermentation profiles resulting from digestion of selected portions of bamboo may be part of the feeding strategy of giant pandas.
2020-03-02 | PXD010872 | Pride
Project description:gut microbes of giant pandas 16sdna sequence reads
Project description:Exosomes were extracted from adipose mesenchymal stem cells of Qnling giant pandas using ultracentrifugation. Proteomic techniques were applied to analyze the composition and function of ADMSC-EX.
2025-05-26 | PXD059496 | Pride
Project description:Gut microbiome in giant pandas across different reproductive status
| PRJNA1393895 | ENA
Project description:vaginal microbiome of giant pandas
| PRJNA659379 | ENA
Project description:Vaginal microbiome of giant pandas
Project description:we applied RNA-seq to detect novel expressed transcripts in 12 tissues of giant pandas, using a transcriptome reconstruction strategy combining reference-based and de novo methods. Then we used mass spectrometry method to identify proteomes of five selected tissues, aiming at validating these novel full-length genes we identified.
