Hong Kong
CNN
—
Pandas famously love bamboo but the fluffy mammals actually have digestive systems typical of animals that eat a meat-based diet – and Chinese scientists now think they know why.
They say gorging on the tall, fast-growing plant can influence the covert carnivores’ behavior and regulate the bears’ sense of smell and taste.
Native to southwest China, pandas spend up to 16 hours a day devouring bamboo, absorbing a genetic material called microRNA (miRNA) into their bloodstream, according to research published Friday in the journal Frontiers.
The molecule can influence how genetic information is transferred across pandas’ bodies, shaping the way they act, said the research led by China West Normal University in Sichuan province.
MiRNA plays “a role in regulating the gene expression of giant pandas,” said Dr Li Feng, a senior author from the university, in a statement.
Li and his colleagues found that the molecule can shape physiological processes in pandas’ bodies, including growth, biological rhythms, behavior and immune responses.
“MiRNA in bamboo is also involved in the regulation of smell, taste, and dopamine pathways of giant pandas, all of which are related to their feeding habits,” he said.
The researchers believe that by the time a baby panda grows up, it will develop the ability to pick the freshest and most nutritious bamboo, which enables them to adapt to a plant-based diet.
The study was based on blood samples from six adult pandas and a juvenile. Among those samples, scientists detected 57 traces of miRNAs likely derived from bamboo.
They hope the discovery can help scientists further understand the effect of plant miRNA on animals, potentially paving the way for the treatment or prevention of diseases, according to the study.
Though the panda’s diet consists almost entirely of bamboo leaves, stems and shoots, about 1% of their food comes from other plants – and even meat such as small rodents, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
About 1,800 pandas live in the wild, roaming mountain ranges in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, WWF says.
Habitat loss and fragmentation pose the biggest threats to wild pandas, while their lukewarm desire to reproduce has made preserving them a challenge. When mothers finally give birth, newborn pandas are extremely fragile.
China has drastically scaled up efforts to save the bears over the past decades, boosting the number of panda reserves from 12 to 67.