This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the fecal microbiota and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in three groups of dogs: pet dogs, rural dogs, and stray dogs. The research highlights how different lifestyles influence the microbial composition and resistance profiles of these animals.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing public health concern, with infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria linked to millions of deaths globally. Understanding the dynamics of AMR in companion animals, particularly dogs, is crucial as they are closely associated with human environments. This study aims to analyze the fecal microbiota and resistomes of dogs with distinct lifestyles in Shanghai, China.
The study involved 37 pet dogs, 20 rural dogs, and 25 stray dogs. Fecal samples were collected and subjected to metagenomic analysis to identify microbial composition and ARGs. Machine learning techniques were employed to analyze the data, focusing on the differences in microbial communities and resistance profiles among the groups.
1. **Microbial Diversity**: Pet dogs exhibited the lowest microbial diversity, while stray dogs showed the highest. The genus Ligilactobacillus was notably more abundant in stray dogs, indicating their adaptability to variable environments.
2. **Antibiotic Resistance Genes**: A total of 587 ARGs were identified, conferring resistance to 14 antibiotic classes. The presence of the mcr-1 gene in a pet dog raised concerns about potential public health risks.
3. **Risk Assessment**: The study assessed the risk of antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity (RARP) across the samples, revealing that pet dogs had the highest RARP scores, indicating a greater risk of AMR transmission.
The findings suggest that lifestyle significantly impacts the fecal microbiota and resistome of dogs. Pet dogs, with their controlled diets and environments, displayed less microbial resilience compared to rural and stray dogs, which have more diverse diets and exposure to various environmental factors.
This research underscores the importance of understanding the microbiome and resistome variations among dogs with different lifestyles. The heightened antimicrobial resistance observed in pet dogs poses potential public health implications, necessitating further investigation into the transmission dynamics of ARGs between dogs and humans.
import pandas as pd import seaborn as sns import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # Load the dataset # Assuming 'data.csv' contains the metagenomic data with columns for dog type and ARGs data = pd.read_csv('data.csv') # Group by dog type and count ARGs arg_counts = data.groupby('dog_type')['ARGs'].count().reset_index() # Create a bar plot to visualize ARG distribution plt.figure(figsize=(10,6)) sns.barplot(x='dog_type', y='ARGs', data=arg_counts) plt.title('Distribution of Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) by Dog Type') plt.xlabel('Dog Type') plt.ylabel('Number of ARGs') plt.show()