The particular bacteria species present (Escherichia, Shigella and Streptococcus bacteria) are typical of carnivores, not herbivores, but we don't know how much

The particular bacteria species present (Escherichia, Shigella and Streptococcus bacteria) are typical of carnivores, not herbivores, but we don't know how much (yet) how much those strains have or have not adapted to their cellulose job. From the article: "Eisen says that some of the microbes in the panda gut might still be highly efficient at breaking down cellulose. He argues that the study's authors examined only microbial composition, not function — and microbes can change function rapidly, making it hard to predict how they perform solely on the basis of the genera of bacteria present. A 2011 study2 found evidence that Clostridium bacteria in panda guts contained genes that resembled those known to produce enzymes that break cellulose down into simpler sugars. 'I’m not convinced at all that there's any limitation to the cellulolytic activity in this system based upon the data they have,' Eisen says of the new study. The researchers say that the most important question of the study is whether the panda’s carnivore-like microbial structure can still effectively utilize cellulose. More work will help to provide a complete picture."