Bacteria for Coral Whitening-Eurasian Review

Coral is the backbone of tropical marine ecosystems. They are threatened by rising water temperatures caused by global warming and are one of the first ecosystems in the world to be on the verge of collapse. Coral bleaching, which has become stronger and more frequent due to heat stress, has already wiped out corals in many parts of the world. With the help of a microbial flora targeting strategy developed by an international team led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Marine Research Center Kiel, it may be feasible to help protect corals from heat stress.The work was published in an international journal Microbiota..

Coral is the backbone of tropical marine ecosystems. They are threatened by rising water temperatures caused by global warming and are one of the first ecosystems in the world to be on the verge of collapse. Coral bleaching, which has become stronger and more frequent due to heat stress, has already wiped out corals in many parts of the world. With the help of a microbial flora targeting strategy developed by an international team led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Marine Research Center Kiel, it may be feasible to help protect corals from heat stress.The work was published in an international journal Microbiota..

Images of naked, naked white coral reefs are increasingly circulating around the world. Typical colorful coral reefs in tropical waters, home to many types of marine ecosystems, suffer from rising water temperatures due to global warming. There is no visible coral heat relief. Scientists are desperately looking for ways to make temperature-sensitive organisms more resistant to heat stress. A group of scientists led by GEOMAR Helmholtz Marine Research Center Kiel is developing a promising approach based on therapies known in human medicine.This study was published in an international journal Microbiota..

“The idea is that probiotic bacteria with beneficial functions can help corals tolerate heat stress,” said the lead author of a study funded as part of the University of Kiel’s Future Ocean Network project. Dr. Anna Roik of GEOMAR explains. “Current studies have tested a’microbiota transplant’approach, inspired by, for example, microbiota-based applications known from clinical therapies,” Roik continues.

The research group conducted a coral microbiota transplantation experiment using reef-building corals, Pocillopora damicula and Poritidae, in the Andaman Sea, Thailand. They investigated whether this technique could improve the heat resistance of corals by modifying the bacterial microflora. Scientists first sought a more heat-resistant “donor” coral.

“Then, using materials from the coral tissue of the donor coral, inoculate homologous heat-sensitive recipients and use a genetic analysis method called 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding to bleach their reactions and microbial flora. We recorded the changes in the disease, “explains Dr. Roik.

Recipient corals of both species bleached more gently during a short heat stress test (34 ° C) compared to the control group.

“The results show that the inoculated coral was able to resist the heat stress response in a short period of time,” explains Dr. Ute Hentschel Humeida, head of the GEOMAR Marine Symbiosis Research Unit and co-author of the study. .. “In addition, microbiome data suggest that’inoculated’coral may favor the uptake of the putative bacterial symbiont,” continues Dr. Annaloik. “But more studies are needed to elucidate the exact mechanism of action, and long-term field-based studies to test the persistence of the effect,” said marine biologists looking ahead. I will.