Analysis of Intestinal Microbial Diversity in Domestic Dogs Around Tangjiahe Nature Reserve, Giant Panda National Park

Introduction: Domestic dogs in Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve of Giant Panda National Park occupy the ecological niche where humans and wild animals interact. Serving as the transmission source of highly pathogenic diseases, dogs pose severe threats to the health of endangered wild animals including giant pandas and public health security. Accordingly, this study aims to comprehensively analyze the diversity characteristics and functional properties of intestinal microbiota in domestic dogs within this region. Results The intestinal flora of dogs surrounding the reserve was predominantly composed of four phyla, namely Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, Campylobacterota and Proteobacteria. Clostridium , Eubacterium and Lactobacillus were identified as the core common bacterial genera across all three sample groups. Pathogenic microorganisms including Escherichia coli , Fusobacterium and Helicobacter were detected at the species level. Pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus fumigatus were specifically detected in the LY group. Meanwhile, multiple vertebrate-associated pathogenic viruses were enriched, including Avian_endogenous_retrovirus, Avian_leukosis_virus and Human_endogenous_retrovirus . KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the membrane transport function of intestinal microbiota was markedly activated in the DS group, while pathways related to microbial motility were enriched in the WS group. The types and distribution patterns of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were evaluated based on the CARD database. At the drug class level, the DS group possessed the highest overall ARG abundance, which was mainly characterized by tetracyclines, glycopeptides, polypeptides and multidrug resistance genes. Conclusions In this study, 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing and metagenomic sequencing were adopted to explore canine intestinal microbial diversity, potential zoonotic pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The results demonstrated that the composition and function of intestinal microbiota presented species-specific and region-specific discrepancies among different groups. These findings provide valuable scientific references for wild animal conservation.