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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1481567
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights into the Gut Microbiota in Companion Animals View all 12 articles
Dynamics of the Canine Gut Microbiota of a Military Dog Birth Cohort
Provisionally accepted
Jae-Uk An 1
Seung-Hyun Mun 1
Woohyun Kim 1,2
Je Kyung Seong 1,2 Kyoungwan Park 3
Seongbeom Cho 1,2,4*- 1 College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2 Korea Mouse Phenotyping Center (KMPC), Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 3 Military working dogs Training center, Gangwon, Republic of Korea
- 4 Comparative medicine Disease Research Center (CDRC), Seoul, Republic of Korea
We systematically tracked early life stages in a military dog birth cohort to investigate canine gut microbiota dynamics related to environmental exposure during growth. This study utilized 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing-based analysis with molecular epidemiology of Enterococcus faecalis within a controlled environment at a military dog training center. We examined shifts in gut microbiota diversity and taxonomic composition across four growth stages (lactation, weaning, starter, puppy) in three littermate groups. Additionally, E. faecalis dynamics was analyzed to confirm strain sharing among littermate groups. Gut microbiota changed rapidly during early growth, stabilizing at the puppy stage. This is supported by increased similarity in taxonomic composition among littermate groups, as they experienced an increased shared external environment and consumed the identical diets. E. faecalis strain sharing among littermate groups increased as dogs aged. Nine E. faecalis cluster types were identified; three specific types (type I, II, and IX) dominated in each littermate group during lactation. With greater exposure to the shared external environment, cluster type I gradually assumed dominance across all groups. Despite the dynamic shifts in microbiota, we found five genera within the core microbiota, Bacteroides, Peptoclostridium, Fusobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Blautia. This study is the first to explore the dynamic nature of early-life canine gut microbiota, illustrating its transition to stability and its resilience to environmental perturbations within the controlled training environment of a military dog birth cohort.
Keywords: Military dogs, Birth cohort, Gut Microbiota, Growth, controlled environment, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, Enterococcus faecalis, Canine parvovirus-2
Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 06 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 An, Mun, Kim, Seong, Park and Cho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Seongbeom Cho, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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