Towards heat tolerant metagenome functional prediction, coral microbial community composition, and enrichment analysis

Abstract

Coral reefs represent one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on our planet. These consist of colonies of very small sea animals belonging to the phylum named Cnidaria, and of more complex, yet not so well-known microbial communities. Despite the fact that they occupy only a tiny portion of the oceans' surface, coral reefs are swarming with life, providing food and shelter to a wide number of marine species, ranging from mollusks to numerous fish species. There is a number of factors that can affect their sustainability and likelihood of developing diseases, including increased seawater temperature, acidity, salinity, and human impact. It is crucial to study the relationship between corals and microbial communities linked to them. This work analyzes the overall microbial community composition of the different coral species found in the Australian waters and identifies the most abundant Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) on different taxonomic levels. Additionally, heat specific coral core microbiome found across at least 20% of the investigated coral host species was identified and thoroughly analyzed. Lastly, metagenome functional prediction was carried out and the most abundant heat tolerance related genes were highlighted.