Assessment of fecal microbiota in farmed silver fox (Vulpes vulpes fulva) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides)

ABSTRACT The fox (Vulpes vulpes fulva) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) are important farmed fur animals, but information on their intestinal microbiota is not known. In this study, the fecal microbiota of the fox and raccoon dog were thus analyzed. Total DNA was extracted from fecal samples, and the v4 16S rRNA gene amplicons were characterized on an Illumina MiSeq platform. A total of 1433 operational taxonomical units (OTUs) belonging to 18 bacterial phyla were identified. The most predominant phyla, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, were identified as the core microbiota, which was consistent with findings from other canids, such as the dog, wolf and dhole. Prevotella and Megasphaera were the major genera in both fox and raccoon dog. Even though the composition and ratio of genera varied between these two canids, their fecal microbial communities were similar to each other.