Comparative transcriptomics and methylomics reveal adaptive responses of digestive and metabolic genes in giant and red panda to dietary shift

Both the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red panda (Ailurus fulgens) belong to the order Carnivora, but have changed their dietary habits to eating bamboo exclusively. Convergent evolution characteristics in morphology, genome and gut flora have been found in two pandas. However, the research on convergent adaptation to bamboo diet of the digestion and metabolism mediated by dietary shift of two pandas at gene expression and epigenetic regulation level is still lacking. Therefore, we performed comparative transcriptomic and methylomic analyses to reveal the adaptive responses of giant panda and red panda digestive and metabolic genes to dietary shifts