Abstract
SummaryCorals are colonized by symbiotic microorganisms that profoundly influence the animal’s health. One noted symbiont is a single‐celled alga (in the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae), which provides the coral with most of its fixed carbon. Thermal stress increases the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by Symbiodiniaceae during photosynthesis. ROS can both damage the algal symbiont’s photosynthetic machinery and inhibit its repair, causing a positive feedback loop for the toxic accumulation of ROS. If not scavenged by the antioxidant network, excess ROS may trigger a signaling cascade ending with the coral host and algal symbiont disassociating in a process known as bleaching. We use Exaiptasia diaphana as a model for corals and constructed a consortium comprised of E. diaphana–associated bacteria capable of neutralizing ROS. We identified six strains with high free radical scavenging (FRS) ability belonging to the families Alteromonadaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae and Micrococcaceae. In parallel, we established a consortium of low FRS isolates consisting of genetically related strains. Bacterial whole genome sequences were used to identify key pathways that are known to influence ROS.
Highlights
Coral reefs are among the most biologically and economically valuable ecosystems on Earth (Cesar et al, 2003; Alder et al, 2006; Fisher et al, 2015)
The results from this study suggest the consortium was able to partially mitigate coral bleaching
A total of 842 isolates were obtained from four genotypes of Great Barrier Reef (GBR)–sourced E. diaphana
Summary
Coral reefs are among the most biologically and economically valuable ecosystems on Earth (Cesar et al, 2003; Alder et al, 2006; Fisher et al, 2015). While they cover less than 0.1% of the ocean floor (Spalding and Grenfell, 1997), coral reefs support economic activities relating to fisheries, tourism, pharmaceuticals and coastal development with a global value of $8.9 trillion “international $” per year (de Groot et al, 2012). By secreting a calcium carbonate skeleton, scleractinian corals form the literal foundation of the coral reef ecosystem. The success of corals to survive and build up reefs over thousands of years (Devlin-Durante et al, 2016) is tightly linked to their obligate yet fragile symbiosis with endosymbiotic dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae (Glynn, 1996)
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