Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) Gut Microbiota: Taxonomical and Functional Differences across Sex and Age Classes.

摘要: The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) is a medium-size carnivore that, in Europe, restricted to Iberia. bio-ecology of this species remains be elucidated several dimensions, including gut microbiota that nowadays recognized as fundamental component mammals. In work, we investigated the herpestid by single-molecule real-time sequencing twenty paired male (n = 10) and female intestinal samples. This culture-independent approach enabled microbial profiling based on 16S rDNA investigation taxonomical functional features. core microbiome adult subpopulation was dominated Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria. Eight genera were uniquely found adults five non-adults. When comparing bacterial communities across sex, four exclusive females six males. Despite these compositional distinctions, alpha- beta-diversity analyses showed no statistically significant differences sex or between non-adult specimens. However, when function inferred, males presented significantly higher abundance amino acid citrate cycle metabolic pathways, compared overrepresentation galactose pathways. Additionally, exhibited cationic antimicrobial peptide resistance while non-adults bared two-component systems associated with antibiotic synthesis, flagellin biofilm production, chemotaxis control. study adds new insights into palette, highlighting dissimilarities age classes, possibly related primary production resources life-history traits impact behavior diet.