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1. Long-term coral microbial community acclimatization is associated with coral survival in a changing climate

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291503  

   Price, James T; McLachlan, Rowan H; Jury, Christopher P; Toonen, Robert J; Wilkins, Michael J; Grottoli, Andréa G (September 2023, PLOS ONE)

   Keshavmurthy, Shashank (Ed.)

   The plasticity of some coral-associated microbial communities under stressors like warming and ocean acidification suggests the microbiome has a role in the acclimatization of corals to future ocean conditions. Here, we evaluated the acclimatization potential of coral-associated microbial communities of four Hawaiian coral species (Porites compressa,Porites lobata,Montipora capitata, andPocillopora acuta) over 22-month mesocosm experiment. The corals were exposed to one of four treatments: control, ocean acidification, ocean warming, or combined future ocean conditions. Over the 22-month study, 33–67% of corals died or experienced a loss of most live tissue coverage in the ocean warming and future ocean treatments while only 0–10% died in the ocean acidification and control. Among the survivors, coral-associated microbial communities responded to the chronic future ocean treatment in one of two ways: (1) microbial communities differed between the control and future ocean treatment, suggesting the potential capacity for acclimatization, or (2) microbial communities did not significantly differ between the control and future ocean treatment. The first strategy was observed in bothPoritesspecies and was associated with higher survivorship compared toM.capitataandP.acutawhich exhibited the second strategy. Interestingly, the microbial community responses to chronic stressors were independent of coral physiology. These findings indicate acclimatization of microbial communities may confer resilience in some species of corals to chronic warming associated with climate change. However,M.capitatagenets that survived the future ocean treatment hosted significantly different microbial communities from those that died, suggesting the microbial communities of the survivors conferred some resilience. Thus, even among coral species with inflexible microbial communities, some individuals may already be tolerant to future ocean conditions. These findings suggest that coral-associated microbial communities could play an important role in the persistence of some corals and underlie climate change-driven shifts in coral community composition. 

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2. Protein signatures predict coral resilience and survival to thermal bleaching events

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02167-7  

   Nunn, Brook L; Brown, Tanya; Timmins-Schiffman, Emma; Mudge, Miranda C; Riffle, Michael; Axworthy, Jeremy B; Dilworth, Jenna; Kenkel, Carly D; Zaneveld, Jesse; Rodrigues, Lisa J; et al (December 2025, Communications Earth & Environment)

   Abstract Coral bleaching events from thermal stress are increasing globally in duration, frequency, and intensity. While bleaching can cause mortality, some corals survive, reacquire symbionts, and recover. We experimentally bleachedMontipora capitatato examine molecular and physiological differences between corals that recover (resilient) and those that die (susceptible). Corals were collected and monitored for eight months post-bleaching to identify genets with long-term resilience. Using an integrated systems-biology approach that included quantitative proteomics, 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the coral microbiome, total coral lipids, symbiont community composition and density, we explored molecular-level mechanisms of tolerance in corals pre- and post-bleaching. Prior to thermal stress, resilient corals have a more diverse microbiome and abundant proteins essential for carbon acquisition, symbiont retention, and pathogen resistance. Protein signatures of susceptible corals showed early symbiont rejection and utilized urea for carbon and nitrogen. Our results reveal molecular factors for surviving bleaching events and identify diagnostic protein biomarkers for reef management and restoration. 

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3. Experimental transmission of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease results in differential microbial responses within coral mucus and tissue

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00126-3  

   Huntley, Naomi; Brandt, Marilyn E.; Becker, Cynthia C.; Miller, Carolyn A.; Meiling, Sonora S.; Correa, Adrienne M. S.; Holstein, Daniel M.; Muller, Erinn M.; Mydlarz, Laura D.; Smith, Tyler B.; et al (May 2022, ISME Communications)

   Abstract Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a widespread and deadly disease that affects nearly half of Caribbean coral species. To understand the microbial community response to this disease, we performed a disease transmission experiment on US Virgin Island (USVI) corals, exposing six species of coral with varying susceptibility to SCTLD. The microbial community of the surface mucus and tissue layers were examined separately using a small subunit ribosomal RNA gene-based sequencing approach, and data were analyzed to identify microbial community shifts following disease acquisition, potential causative pathogens, as well as compare microbiota composition to field-based corals from the USVI and Florida outbreaks. While all species displayed similar microbiome composition with disease acquisition, microbiome similarity patterns differed by both species and mucus or tissue microhabitat. Further, disease exposed but not lesioned corals harbored a mucus microbial community similar to those showing disease signs, suggesting that mucus may serve as an early warning detection for the onset of SCTLD. Like other SCTLD studies in Florida, Rhodobacteraceae, Arcobacteraceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Fusibacter, Marinifilaceae, and Vibrionaceae dominated diseased corals. This study demonstrates the differential response of the mucus and tissue microorganisms to SCTLD and suggests that mucus microorganisms may be diagnostic for early disease exposure. 

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4. Microbial bioindicators of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease identified in corals and overlying waters using a rapid field‐based sequencing approach

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15718  

   Becker, Cynthia_C; Brandt, Marilyn; Miller, Carolyn_A; Apprill, Amy (September 2021, Environmental Microbiology)

   Summary Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a devastating disease. Since 2014, it has spread along the entire Florida Reef Tract and into the greater Caribbean. It was first detected in the United States Virgin Islands in January 2019. To more quickly identify microbial bioindicators of disease, we developed a rapid pipeline for microbiome sequencing. Over a span of 10 days we collected, processed and sequenced coral and near‐coral seawater microbiomes from diseased and apparently healthyColpophyllia natans,Montastraea cavernosa,Meandrina meandritesandOrbicella franksi. Analysis of bacterial and archaeal 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences revealed 25 bioindicator amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) enriched in diseased corals. These bioindicator ASVs were additionally recovered in near‐coral seawater (<5 cm of coral surface), a potential reservoir for pathogens. Phylogenetic analysis of microbial bioindicators with sequences from the Coral Microbiome Database revealed thatVibrio,Arcobacter, Rhizobiaceae and Rhodobacteraceae sequences were related to disease‐associated coral bacteria and lineages novel to corals. Additionally, four ASVs (Algicola,Cohaesibacter,ThalassobiusandVibrio) were matches to microbes previously associated with SCTLD that should be targets for future research. Overall, this work suggests that a rapid sequencing framework paired with specialized databases facilitates identification of microbial disease bioindicators. 

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5. Evidence for microbially-mediated tradeoffs between growth and defense throughout coral evolution

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-024-00370-z  

   Epstein, Hannah_E; Brown, Tanya; Akinrinade, Ayọmikun_O; McMinds, Ryan; Pollock, F_Joseph; Sonett, Dylan; Smith, Styles; Bourne, David_G; Carpenter, Carolina_S; Knight, Rob; et al (January 2025, Animal Microbiome)

   Abstract BackgroundEvolutionary tradeoffs between life-history strategies are important in animal evolution. Because microbes can influence multiple aspects of host physiology, including growth rate and susceptibility to disease or stress, changes in animal-microbial symbioses have the potential to mediate life-history tradeoffs. Scleractinian corals provide a biodiverse, data-rich, and ecologically-relevant host system to explore this idea. ResultsUsing a comparative approach, we tested if coral microbiomes correlate with disease susceptibility across 425 million years of coral evolution by conducting a cross-species coral microbiome survey (the “Global Coral Microbiome Project”) and combining the results with long-term global disease prevalence and coral trait data. Interpreting these data in their phylogenetic context, we show that microbial dominance predicts disease susceptibility, and traced this dominance-disease association to a single putatively beneficial symbiont genus,Endozoicomonas. Endozoicomonasrelative abundance in coral tissue explained 30% of variation in disease susceptibility and 60% of variation in microbiome dominance across 40 coral genera, while also correlating strongly with high growth rates. ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that the evolution ofEndozoicomonassymbiosis in corals correlates with both disease prevalence and growth rate, and suggest a mediating role. Exploration of the mechanistic basis for these findings will be important for our understanding of how microbial symbioses influence animal life-history tradeoffs. 

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