Despite their carnivorous digestive systems, giant pandas thrive on bamboo, and now scientists may have uncovered a key reason why.
Researchers found that microRNAs from bamboo enter pandas’ bodies through digestion and help regulate gene expression, potentially shaping their taste preferences and dietary adaptations. These plant-derived molecules may influence senses like smell and taste, allowing pandas to pick the freshest bamboo. The study also suggests that miRNAs might play a broader role in animal health, possibly affecting immunity and disease resistance.
Carnivore Digestive System, Bamboo Diet
Giant pandas have a digestive system designed for a carnivorous diet, yet they primarily eat bamboo. Over time, they have developed physical adaptations that help them thrive on this plant-based diet, such as pseudo thumbs for grasping bamboo and flat teeth suited for crushing tough stalks.
All living organisms rely on DNA to store genetic information and RNA to carry and transfer that information. Among them, microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene expression — the process of turning genetic instructions into functional traits. Some miRNAs from plants can be absorbed through food, potentially influencing biological processes in the animals that consume them.
Can Bamboo miRNAs Affect Pandas?
A team of researchers in China investigated whether plant-derived miRNAs can enter the bodies of giant pandas and influence their gene expression, potentially aiding their adaptation to a bamboo-based diet.
“We showed that plant-derived miRNAs are present in the blood of giant pandas,” said Dr Feng Li, a researcher at China West Normal University and senior author of the study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. “Our study proved that bamboo used as food for giant pandas does affect the change of giant pandas’ feeding habits.”
A Matter of Taste
The researchers took blood samples from seven giant pandas, including three adult females, three adult males, and one juvenile female. In those samples, they found 57 miRNAs that were likely derived from bamboo.
“MiRNA in bamboo can enter giant pandas’ bodies through diet, be absorbed by the intestine, enter the blood circulation, and then regulate when the giant panda’s RNA transfers information, thus playing a role in regulating the gene expression of giant pandas,” Li explained.
These plant-derived miRNAs can regulate different physiological processes, including growth and development, 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,” Li said. The researchers believe that as pandas eat more bamboo as they grow, certain miRNAs accumulate, modulate gene expression, and aid in the adaptation to the taste of bamboo. These miRNAs might also influence giant pandas’ sense of smell and enable them to pick out the freshest and most nutritious pieces of bamboo plants. Accordingly, miRNAs from bamboo may facilitate the adaption of giant pandas from a carnivorous to a plant-based diet.
From Plant to Animals
The researchers also found that pandas with different ages and sexes had different miRNA compositions in their blood. “Only miRNAs that can specifically play a role in regulating gene expression can remain in the body, and those that do not play a role will be expelled,” said Li. For example, some miRNAs regulate reproductive processes and can thus only be found in the blood of pandas of a certain sex or age.
The fact that miRNA could transmit signals from plants to animals, may open doors for studying the treatment and prevention of animal diseases. “Plant miRNAs may also participate in regulating the animal immune system, enhancing animals’ disease resistance,” Li pointed out.
Similarly, studying plant miRNA-induced changes could also help to assess and improve the safety of plant-based foods for animals and humans, the researchers said. However, to draw definitive conclusions about the potential of miRNA in general and the effects it might have on giant pandas, more research is needed.
Future Research and Conservation
“The giant panda is a very precious national treasure in our country, and blood samples are not easy to get,” Li concluded. “If possible, we hope to collect blood samples of young pandas who have not yet eaten bamboo for research, and perhaps get more surprising results.”
Reference: “Cross-kingdom regulation of gene expression in giant pandas via plant-derived miRNA” by Helin Tan, Chengdong Wang, Feng Li, Yue Peng, Jiacheng Sima, Ying Li, Linhua Deng, Kai Wu, Zhongxian Xu and Zejun Zhang, 7 January 2025, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1509698
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2 Comments
Lots of mights and mays and coulds in this, no actual facts except that they found plant miRNA in animals. They did not actually find any ways the miRNA was affecting the pandas – but it might!
There’s a giant hole in media coverage of this finding:
“What’s in it for the bamboo?”
If miRNA is influencing, for example, young Pandas’ choices of the youngest and freshest and most nutritious parts of the plant, they are compromising the parts contributing the most to photosynthetic-driven growth sugars and related plant assets.
More broadly, I should think it’s in the plants’ interests that it should not be eaten altogether: the animals are nothing better than macroscopic rust spores.