Skin Microbiota of the Captive Giant Panda (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca) and the Distribution of Opportunistic Skin Disease-Associated Bacteria in Different Seasons

The giant panda is one of the rarest animals in the world. Skin diseases seriously endanger the health of giant panda and are considered the second major cause of its morbidity. Skin microbiota is a complex ecosystem, and the community structure and the pathogenic potential of bacteria on giant panda skin remain largely unclear. In order to understand the skin bacterial flora of captive giant pandas, the microbiota in giant panda skin samples collected during different seasons was profiled via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In total, 522 genera from 53 bacterial phyla were detected, with Proteobacteria (40.5%), Actinobacteria (23.1%), Firmicutes (21.1%), Bacteroidetes (9.5%), Cyanobacteria (2.1%), and Thermi (1.2%) as the predominant phyla and Streptococcus (13.9%), Acinetobacter (9.2%), Staphylococcus (2.9%), Pseudomonas (5.9%), Dermacoccus (4.8%), Brachybacterium (2.9%), Escherichia (2.7%), Chryseobacterium (2.1%), Arthrobacter (1.6%), Kocuria (1.5%), Psychrobacter (1.2%), Deinococcus (1.1%), and Flavobacterium (1.1%) as the predominant genera. The results indicated that the diversity was lower in winter than in other seasons and higher in autumn than in other seasons, and the abundance in spring was significantly higher than that in other seasons. Several skin disease-associated bacteria were detected as opportunists in the skin microbiota of healthy giant pandas. In this study, the results indicated that the high diversity and abundance of the skin bacteria may have enhanced the occurrence of skin disease in autumn and spring and that skin disease-associated bacteria are the normal components of the skin microbiota.