study of gut microbiota in adult giant pandas and their newborn babies during the lactation

Breast milk is irreplaceable for the growth of captive giant pandas. Diet-stimulated gut microbiome transitions in giant pandas in early life has lifelong influence on their health status. In our study, we sequenced the gut microbiota compositions of cubs and their mothers and explored gut microbiome transitions during the growth process, from the colostrum milk to the mature milk feeding. Our findings reveals the distinctive gut microbiota composition in early life of cubs, which could be attributed to the great nutritional differences between colostrum and mature milk of giant panda, with life-long impacts on health statues of the vulnerable mammalian animals.