Abstract
Simple SummaryThe gut microbial ecosystem is affected by various factors such as lifestyle, environment, and disease. Although gut microbiota is closely related to host health, an understanding of the gut microbiota of dogs is still lacking. Therefore, we investigated gut microbial composition in healthy dogs and divided them into groups according to their breed, age, or body condition score. From our results, age is the most crucial factor driving the gut microbial community of dogs compared to breed and body condition score (especially Fusobacterium perfoetens, which was much more abundant in the older group). We have revealed that even in healthy dogs without any diseases, there are differences in gut microbiota depending on individual traits. These results can be used as a basis for improving the quality of life by managing dogs’ gut microbiota.Since dogs are part of many peoples’ lives, research and industry related to their health and longevity are becoming a rising topic. Although gut microbiota (GM) is a key contributor to host health, limited information is available for canines. Therefore, this study characterized GM according to individual signatures (e.g., breed, age, and body condition score—BCS) of dogs living in the same environment. Fresh fecal samples from 96 healthy dogs were analyzed by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The major microbial phyla were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. In the comparison by breeds, relative abundance of Fusobacterium was significantly differed. Interestingly, Fusobacterium perfoetens abundance was positively correlated with age (p = 0.018), being significantly more enriched in the 6–10-year-old group (14.3%) than in the 0.5–1-year-old group (7.2%). Moreover, despite the healthy appearance of dogs in all age (0.5–10 years) and BCS (3–6) groups, the gut microbial environment may be disadvantageous in older dogs or in dogs with an abnormal BCS. These findings broaden our understanding of gut microbial ecology according to individual characteristics of dogs and may be used as a reference for providing customized-care to companion animals.
Highlights
Most microorganisms in the mammalian body reside in the intestinal tract, and numerous studies over the past decades have revealed a close relationship between gut microbiota (GM) and a healthy life
A well-balanced and stabled GM greatly contributes to maintaining homeostasis and promptly responds to infections in dogs [6], and gut microbial dysbiosis in dogs is associated with several diseases such as metabolic disorders [7], inflammatory bowel disease [8,9], and arthritis [10]
These results suggest that there may be differences in the GM composition depending on the dog breeds
Summary
Most microorganisms in the mammalian body reside in the intestinal tract, and numerous studies over the past decades have revealed a close relationship between gut microbiota (GM) and a healthy life. Age is one of the main factors inducing significant shifts in GM community with a decline in microbial diversity [18]. Many studies have compared the GM composition of overweight or obese individuals and have revealed several characteristics linked with these conditions, including the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio [24]. In dogs, the differences in GM between obese and normal are still controversial [26] For these reasons, dogs’ GM characterization according to individual characteristics, is imperative, in addition to general profiling. The present study compared the GM of 96 healthy dogs according to breed, age, and body condition score (BCS) based on 16S rRNA sequences. All dogs examined in this study lived within the same environment (place, lifestyle, and owner) to reduce the influence of external factors
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