Preliminary assessment and metagenomic analysis of oral microbiota of the small Indian mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus through next-generation sequencing

A total of 5 small Indian mongoose ( Herpestes auropunctatus (Hodgson, 1836)) specimens were captured to obtain oral swabs with all specimens being released after sampling. DNA extraction from oral swabs was done using the QIAamp DNA Microbiome and the 16S rRNA gene was amplified targeting variable region V1 to V8 (1350 bp). Next-generation sequen c ing (NGS) of PCR products was performed from Macrogen, Korea. A KORONA plot was constructed to visualize relative abundance of the top 10 bacterial taxa. The following bacterial phyla were identified; Proteobacteria (58.0%), Bacteroidetes (20.0%), Firmicutes (12.0%), Fusobacteria (7.0%), and Patescibacteria (2.0%). The dominant bacterial classes included Gammaproteobacteria (57.0%), Bacteroidia (20.0%), Bacilli (4.0%), and Alphaproteobacteria (0.8%). The prevalent bacter i al orders were Pseudomonadales (19.0%), Bacteroidales (10.0%), Flavobacteriales (9.0%), and Clostridiales (7.0%), with Fusobacteriales and Betaproteobacteriales each at 5.0%, and Lactobacillales, Absconditabacteriales, and Saccharimonadales at 4.0%, 1.0%, and 0.1%, respectively. The identified families and their relative abundances were Pasteurellaceae (29.0%), Weeksellaceae (5.0%), Neisseriaceae (4.0%), Peptostreptococcaceae (3.0%), with Erysipelotrichaceae, Leptotrichiaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae each at 2.0%, and Cardiobacteriaceae and Burkholderiaceae at 1.0% each. Other families included Xa n thomonadaceae (0.8%), Carnobacteriaceae (0.5%), and Streptococcaceae (0.2%). The genera identify ed were Pasteurella , Paracoccus , Escherichia , Shigella , Moraxella , Stenotrophomonas , Neisseria , Conchiformibius , Bergeyella , Capnocytoph a ga , Fusobacterium , Oceanivirga , Streptococcus , Bacillus , and Defluviitaleaceae. The identification of genera such as Pa s teurella , Neisseria , Eschrichia and Shigella warrants further investigation into their potential role as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens especially given the mongoose's invasive nature, close contact with human and animal populations.