Dynamics of Gut Microbial Community and Function in Growing Male Raccoon Dogs

Background: Raccoon dogs have short breeding cycles and strong adaptability, and their fur is economically valuable. Although the gut microbiota, a key regulator of animal health, has been extensively studied in livestock, its composition and function in raccoon dogs remain poorly understood. Methods: In this study, the gut microbiota structure and functional profiles of ten raccoon dogs were analyzed during their growth period, including 2 (M2), 3 (M3), 4 (M4), 6 (M6), and 8 (M8) months after birth. Results: Our findings revealed that the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota in growing raccoon dogs increased initially and then decreased with age. Significant intergroup separation was observed in principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses, while the unweighted pair–group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) analysis indicated temporal fluctuations in microbial composition. At the phylum level, the dominant taxa were Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Proteobacteria. At the genus level, the M2 group was enriched with Ligilactobacillus and Megasphaera; the M3 group with Blautia, Megamonas, Peptoclostridium, and Prevotella 9; the M4 group with Cetobacterium and Streptococcus; the M6 group with Lactobacillus and Prevotella 9; and the M8 group with Prevotella 9 and Turicibacter. Function prediction of gut microbiota identified metabolism (particularly carbohydrate, amino acid, energy, and nucleotide metabolism) and genetic information processing (including replication and repair) as the predominant functional categories. Conclusions: The present results offer an understanding of how the gut microbiota of growing raccoon dogs changes over time.