Director, Molecular Biology AnimalBiome Oakland, California, United States
Abstract:
Background: The gut microbiome supports the health and well-being of all animals. Still its composition and diversity in relation to health status remain underexplored in many animals, particularly for less well studied exotic species, such as the domestic ferret.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to characterize and compare the fecal microbiome of healthy ferrets and those reported to have chronic enteropathy (CE) in order to identify insights that may enhance the management of these conditions.
Methods: Fecal samples were collected from a cohort of 45 healthy ferrets and 25 ferrets presenting with various gastrointestinal diseases. Microbial DNA was extracted from the samples, and full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed using PacBio technology to provide species-level resolution.
Results: The Shannon index was used to assess alpha diversity and did not differ significantly between the two groups (p = 0.39). Beta diversity was assessed using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity matrix, which revealed distinct clustering of samples based on health status (PERMANOVA, p = 0.04). Spearman rank correlation was used to generate a pattern plot that highlighted the features correlated with key taxa of interest associated with health status. Enterococcus hirae and Streptococcus lutetiensis were correlated with the CE group, while Enterococcus faecium, E. faecalis, Streptococcus equorum, and S. saprophyticus were correlated with the healthy group.
Conclusion: These research findings enhance our understanding of the fecal microbiome of domestic ferrets and highlight the need for species-level resolution when characterizing bacterial composition, particularly members of Enterococcus and Streptococcus.
