The Gut Microbiota of the Egyptian Mongoose as an Early Warning Indicator of Ecosystem Health in Portugal

Mónica V. Cunha, Teresa Albuquerque, Patrícia Themudo, Carlos Fonseca, Victor Bandeira and Luís M. Rosalino
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Mónica V. Cunha: National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV, IP), Wildlife, Hunting and Biodiversity R&D Unit, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Teresa Albuquerque: National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV, IP), Wildlife, Hunting and Biodiversity R&D Unit, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Patrícia Themudo: National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV, IP), Wildlife, Hunting and Biodiversity R&D Unit, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Carlos Fonseca: Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Victor Bandeira: Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Luís M. Rosalino: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: The Egyptian mongoose is a carnivore mammal species that in the last decades experienced a tremendous expansion in Iberia, particularly in Portugal, mainly due to its remarkable ecological plasticity in response to land-use changes. However, this species may have a disruptive role on native communities in areas where it has recently arrived due to predation and the potential introduction of novel pathogens. We report reference information on the cultivable gut microbial landscape of widely distributed Egyptian mongoose populations ( Herpestes ichneumon , n = 53) and related antimicrobial tolerance across environmental gradients. The panel of isolated species is consistent with the typical protein-based diet of a carnivore: Firmicutes predominate (89% of individuals), while Clostridiales , Enterobacteriales , and Lactobacillales are the major classes. Forty-one individuals (77.4%) harbour Clostridium spp. A spatial influence on mongooses’ microbiota is confirmed by nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis, with a significant contribution of municipality to their microbiota composition. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of mongoose commensal bacteria to 28 compounds evidences xenobiotic tolerance of Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), enterococci, Salmonella Spartel and Mbandaka serotypes and Pseudomonas bacteria, among others. The common isolation of antimicrobial tolerant microbiota from the mongoose’s gut suggests this species is exposed to anthropogenic influence and is affected by forestry and agricultural-related practices, reflecting its easy adaptation to ecological gradients across agroecosystems. We thus propose regular microbial and phenotypic resistance profiling of widely distributed mongooses as a sentinel tool for xenobiotics’ lifecycle and ecosystem health in Portugal.

Keywords: Herpestes ichneumon; Egyptian mongoose; carnivores; gut microbiota; antimicrobial tolerance; ecosystem health; wildlife management; human health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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