Linking differences in microbial network structure with changes in coral larval settlement

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Coral cover and recruitment have decreased on reefs worldwide due to climate change-related disturbances. Achieving reliable coral larval settlement under aquaculture conditions is critical for reef restoration programmes; however, this can be challenging due to the lack of reliable and universal larval settlement cues. To investigate the role of microorganisms in coral larval settlement, we undertook a settlement choice experiment with larvae of the coral Acropora tenuis and microbial biofilms grown for different periods on the reef and in aquaria. Biofilm community composition across conditioning types and time was profiled using 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Co-occurrence networks revealed that strong larval settlement correlated with diverse biofilm communities, with specific nodes in the network facilitating connections between modules comprised of low- vs high-settlement communities. Taxa associated with high-settlement communities were identified as Myxoccales sp., Granulosicoccus sp., Alcanivoraceae sp., unassigned JTB23 sp. (Gammaproteobacteria), and Pseudovibrio denitrificans. Meanwhile, taxa closely related to Reichenbachiella agariperforans, Pleurocapsa sp., Alcanivorax sp., Sneathiella limmimaris, as well as several diatom and brown algae were associated with low settlement. Our results characterise high-settlement biofilm communities and identify transitionary taxa that may develop settlement-inducing biofilms to improve coral larval settlement in aquaculture.