Study sheds light on diet of giant panda

CHENGDU - A study has shed new light on how bamboo, a fibrous plant, provides nutrition for giant pandas, which feed almost exclusively on it.

Researchers performed a large-scale genome sequencing study of the gut microbes of pandas, which have a digestive tract similar to carnivores.

They found that the gut microbes do not significantly contribute to the degradation of cellulose and lignin, which are abundant in bamboo. The finding suggests that the animals do not depend on cellulose or lignin to obtain energy. Instead, they rely on starch and hemicelluloses in the plant.