Abstract
The prevalence and phylogenetic description of fungal organisms and their role as part of the intestinal ecosystem have not yet been studied extensively in dogs. This study evaluated the fungal microbiome of 19 dogs (12 healthy dogs and 7 dogs with acute diarrhea) using fungal tag-encoded FLX-Titanium amplicon pyrosequencing. Five distinct fungal phyla were identified, with Ascomycota (medians: 97.9% of obtained sequences in healthy dogs and 98.2% in diseased dogs) and Basidiomycota (median 1.0% in healthy dogs and median 0.5% in diseased dogs) being the most abundant fungal phyla. A total of 219 fungal genera were identified across all 19 dogs with a median (range) of 28 (4–69) genera per sample. Candida was the most abundant genus found in both the diseased dogs (median: 1.9%, range: 0.2%–38.5% of sequences) and healthy dogs (median: 5.2%, range: 0.0%–63.1% of sequences). Candida natalensis was the most frequently identified species. No significant differences were observed in the relative proportions of fungal communities between healthy and diseased dogs. In conclusion, fecal samples of healthy dogs and dogs with acute diarrhea harbor various fungal genera, and their role in gastrointestinal health and disease warrants further studies.
Highlights
Recent molecular-phylogenetic studies have revealed diverse microbial communities in the canine gastrointestinal (GI) tract and have emphasized the importance of the intestinal microbiota for gastrointestinal health [1]
The aim of this study was to describe the fungal communities present in fecal samples obtained from healthy dogs and dogs with acute, nonhemorrhagic diarrhea using highthroughput 18S rRNA gene pyrosequencing
Review of the clinical records of the dogs with acute diarrhea showed that all dogs recovered uneventfully with symptomatic therapy
Summary
Recent molecular-phylogenetic studies have revealed diverse microbial communities in the canine gastrointestinal (GI) tract and have emphasized the importance of the intestinal microbiota for gastrointestinal health [1]. The intestinal microbiota plays a vital role in the health of the GI tract, participates in the development of the host immune system, and provides protection from invading pathogens [2]. Several studies have characterized the bacterial communities in the canine GI tract in health and disease [3,4,5]. Previous studies that have described fungal organisms in the canine GI tract have either used culture based methods [6, 7], have utilized molecular-phylogenetic methods on pooled intestinal samples [8, 9], or have analyzed only a limited number of fungal sequences [10]. A more detailed description of the fungal microbiome (mycobiome) is needed to better understand the role of fungi in the GI tract of healthy dogs and dogs with GI disease
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