Meta-genome Sequencing Analysis for the Change of Skin Bacterial Fauna by the Infestation of Sarcoptes scabiei Mite in Red Foxes Restoring in the Wild, South Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigated the changes in the cutaneous bacterial communities of the red foxes restoring in South Korea, in relation to infection with the sarcoptic mange mite (Sarcoptes scabiei). Skin samples were collected from healthy (n = 12) and infected foxes (n = 10), and subjected to 16S rRNA-based metagenomic sequencing. A total of 523 bacterial species were identified in healthy foxes, whereas 214 species were detected in infected foxes. In the healthy popuilation, Escherichia fergusonii (31.57%), Fusobacterium mortiferum (7.79%), F. perfoetens (6.31%), Bacteroides uniformis (5.44%), and Pseudomonas bubulae (5.35%) were predominant. In contrast, the infected population showed higher abundances of Staphylococcus intermedius (49.89%), S. schweitzeri (13.84%), Sporosarcina jiandibaonis (9.31%), Corynebacterium amycolatum (3.43%), and E. fergusonii (3.30%). The relative abundance of E. fergusonii was markedly reduced in infected foxes, whereas S. intermedius showed a dramatic increase compared with healthy individuals. Alpha diversity analysis revealed that the mean Shannon index was significantly higher in healthy foxes (6.66±0.92) than that of infected foxes (2.19±1.11), indicating a pronounced reduction in both species diversity and evenness in the infected group (U=42, p<0.001). These findings provide important insights into the structural shifts of the skin microbiota in relation to Sarcoptes scabiei infection, and contribute to a better understanding of the ecological and pathological impacts of sarcoptic mange in red foxes.