Abstract
BackgroundThe giant panda has an interesting bamboo diet unlike the other species in the order of Carnivora. The umami taste receptor gene T1R1 has been identified as a pseudogene during its genome sequencing project and confirmed using a different giant panda sample. The estimated mutation time for this gene is about 4.2 Myr. Such mutation coincided with the giant panda's dietary change and also reinforced its herbivorous life style. However, as this gene is preserved in herbivores such as cow and horse, we need to look for other reasons behind the giant panda's diet switch.Methodology/Principal FindingsSince taste is part of the reward properties of food related to its energy and nutrition contents, we did a systematic analysis on those genes involved in the appetite-reward system for the giant panda. We extracted the giant panda sequence information for those genes and compared with the human sequence first and then with seven other species including chimpanzee, mouse, rat, dog, cat, horse, and cow. Orthologs in panda were further analyzed based on the coding region, Kozak consensus sequence, and potential microRNA binding of those genes.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results revealed an interesting dopamine metabolic involvement in the panda's food choice. This finding suggests a new direction for molecular evolution studies behind the panda's dietary switch.
Highlights
Biodiversity is showing up how different animals appear, and on how different their diets are
Our results revealed a complex genetic background and an interesting dopamine metabolic involvement behind the taste for the giant panda’s bamboo diet
Animal experiments have shown that both opioid and dopamine are related to appetite-reward circuitry in food intake behaviour [17,18]
Summary
Biodiversity is showing up how different animals appear, and on how different their diets are. Some species have unique diets and it is interesting to look for the evolutionary reasons behind such natural selection. One such example is the giant panda. The estimated mutation time for this gene is about 4.2 Myr. The estimated mutation time for this gene is about 4.2 Myr Such mutation coincided with the giant panda’s dietary change and reinforced its herbivorous life style. As this gene is preserved in herbivores such as cow and horse, we need to look for other reasons behind the giant panda’s diet switch
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