MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China.
BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration (State Park Administration) on Conservation Biology of Rare Animals in the Giant Panda National Park, China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Dujiangyan, 611830, China.
China Wildlife Conservation Association, Beijing, 100714, China.
Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
Lars Bolund Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, BGI-Qingdao, Qingdao, 266555, China.
Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518120, China.
College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
College of Wildlife Resources, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
The Genome Synthesis and Editing Platform, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518120, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518120, China.
BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China.
Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration (State Park Administration) on Conservation Biology of Rare Animals in the Giant Panda National Park, China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Dujiangyan, 611830, China. 1050133153@qq.com.
MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. qiuhongwan@zju.edu.cn.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. liuhuan@genomics.cn.
BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China. liuhuan@genomics.cn.
MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. sgfanglab@zju.edu.cn.
background: Energy homeostasis is essential for the adaptation of animals to their environment and some wild animals keep low metabolism adaptive to their low-nutrient dietary supply. Giant panda is such a typical low-metabolic mammal exhibiting species specialization of extremely low daily energy expenditure. It has low levels of basal metabolic rate, thyroid hormone, and physical activities, whereas the cellular bases of its low metabolic adaptation remain rarely explored.
results: In this study, we generate a single-nucleus transcriptome atlas of 21 organs/tissues from a female giant panda. We focused on the central metabolic organ (liver) and dissected cellular metabolic status by cross-species comparison. Adaptive expression mode (i.e., AMPK related) was prominently displayed in the hepatocyte of giant panda. In the highest energy-consuming organ, the heart, we found a possibly optimized utilization of fatty acid. Detailed cell subtype annotation of endothelial cells showed the uterine-specific deficiency of blood vascular subclasses, indicating a potential adaptation for a low reproductive energy expenditure.
conclusions: Our findings shed light on the possible cellular basis and transcriptomic regulatory clues for the low metabolism in giant pandas and helped to understand physiological adaptation response to nutrient stress.
