Mink (Mustela vison) Gut Microbial Communities from Northeast China and Its Internal Relationship with Gender and Food Additives.

It is well documented that the microbial interactions and biodiversity play an important role in health and disease in mammalian species. There is a rare study about gut microbiota of Mustelidae family. In this study, 40 male and female minks from Northeast China were divided into three groups and fed until they reached maturity. The V3 region of 16S rRNA genes was amplified and sequenced using NGS. There were 526 OTUs principally concentrated among five bacterial phyla. Two points about mink's body weight gaining were observed: (1) the weight of male individuals increased more rapidly than female individuals; (2) the weight of individuals whose feed was supplemented with Chinese herb additives increased more rapidly than individuals without giving food additives. The differences of microorganism abundance were shown in two points: (1) two genera which had ≥2-fold change difference were found between male and female minks. (2) Ten genera which had a ≥2-fold change difference were found among minks with and without Chinese herb additive. Findings from this study provide new and fundamental knowledge on the gut microbiota composition of minks farmed in Northeast China, which can contribute to the general well-being of minks worldwide.