Researchers from the SOEST, University of British Columbia (UBC), San Diego State University (SDSU), and elsewhere have created 3D molecular maps of bacteria, viruses, and biochemicals across coral colonies along with their interacting organisms such as algae and other competing corals.
Researchers from the SOEST, University of British Columbia (UBC), San Diego State University (SDSU), and elsewhere have created 3D molecular maps of bacteria, viruses, and biochemicals across coral colonies along with their interacting organisms such as algae and other competing corals. This allowed the team to discover specific microbial and viral functions that appear to be key components of the coral microbiome.
The study, published recently in Frontiers of Marine Science, used a novel combination of state-of-the-art molecular methods with cutting-edge 3D imaging techniques to create high-resolution molecular maps on coral reef organisms.
Healthy coral reefs require coral colonies that are resilient and outcompete other organisms such as algae. The new study builds on the authors’ previous research which highlighted the important role that viruses and bacteria play in mediating the clash between coral and algae on a coral reef.
“Our recent research extends this work into a spatially explicit framework and makes for some really impressive 3D molecular maps,” said Ty Roach, study senior author and post-doctoral researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) in SOEST. “Further, we found that patterns in bacteria and viruses that live on and in corals were mainly driven by ecological factors such as how close to a competitor the sample was taken.”
Read more at University Of Hawaii At Manoa
Image: Ty Roach, senior author of the paper, takes a coral sample to study the viruses, microbes and metabolites of coral colonies. (Credit: Dr. Ben Mueller)
