Global microbialization of coral reefs (2024)

References

  1. Wild, C. et al. Coral mucus functions as an energy carrier and particle trap in the reef ecosystem. Nature 428, 66–70 (2004).

    Article Google Scholar

  2. De Goeij, J. M. et al. Surviving in a marine desert: the sponge loop retains resources within coral reefs. Science 342, 108–110 (2013).

    Article Google Scholar

  3. Haas, A. F. et al. Effects of coral reef benthic primary producers on dissolved organic carbon and microbial activity. PLoS ONE 6, e27973 (2011).

    Article Google Scholar

  4. Nelson, C. E. et al. Coral and macroalgal exudates vary in neutral sugar composition and differentially enrich reef bacterioplankton lineages. ISME J. 7, 962–979 (2013).

    Article Google Scholar

  5. Carlson, C. in Biogeochemistry of Marine Dissolved Organic Matter (eds Hansell, D. A. & Carlson, C. A. ) 123–124 (Academic, 2014).

    Google Scholar

  6. Hansell, D. A. & Carlson, C. A. Localized refractory dissolved organic carbon sinks in the deep ocean. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 27, 20067 (2013).

    Article Google Scholar

  7. Vroom, P. S. ‘Coral dominance’: a dangerous ecosystem misnomer? J. Mar. Biol. 2011, 164127 (2011).

    Article Google Scholar

  8. Sandin, S. A. et al. Baselines and degradation of coral reefs in the northern Line Islands. PLoS ONE 3, e1548 (2008).

    Article Google Scholar

  9. Hughes, T. P. et al. Phase shifts, herbivory, and the resilience of coral reefs to climate change. Curr. Biol. 17, 360–365 (2007).

    Article Google Scholar

  10. Nyström, M., Folke, C. & Moberg, F. Coral reef disturbance and resilience in a human-dominated environment. Trends Ecol. Evol. 15, 413–417 (2000).

    Article Google Scholar

  11. Anthony, K. R., Kline, D. I., Diaz-Pulido, G., Dove, S. & Hoegh-Guldberg, O. Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 17442–17446 (2008).

    Article Google Scholar

  12. Thurber, R. L. V. et al. Metagenomic analysis indicates that stressors induce production of herpes-like viruses in the coral Porites compressa. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 18413–18418 (2008).

    Article Google Scholar

  13. Dinsdale, E. A. et al. Microbial ecology of four coral atolls in the northern Line Islands. PLoS ONE 3, 1584 (2008).

    Article Google Scholar

  14. Kelly, L. W. et al. Black reefs: iron induced phase-shift on coral reefs. ISME J. 6, 638–649 (2012).

    Article Google Scholar

  15. Wild, C., Niggl, W., Naumann, M. S. & Haas, A. F. Organic matter release by Red Sea coral reef organisms—potential effects on microbial activity and in-situ O2 availability. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 411, 61–71 (2010).

    Article Google Scholar

  16. Haas, A. F., Jantzen, C., Naumann, M. S., Iglesias-Prieto, R. & Wild, C. Organic matter release by the dominant primary producers in a Caribbean reef lagoon: implication for in-situ O2 availability. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 409, 27–39 (2010).

    Article Google Scholar

  17. Morrow, K. M. et al. Allelochemicals produced by Caribbean macroalgae and cyanobacteria have species-specific effects on reef coral microorganisms. Coral Reefs 30, 309–320 (2011).

    Article Google Scholar

  18. Haas, A. F. et al. Influence of coral and algal exudates on microbially mediated reef metabolism. PeerJ 1, e108 (2013).

    Article Google Scholar

  19. Kline, D. I., Kuntz, N. M., Breitbart, M., Knowlton, N. & Rohwer, F. Role of elevated organic carbon levels and microbial activity in coral mortality. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 314, 119–125 (2006).

    Article Google Scholar

  20. Smith, J. E. et al. Indirect effects of algae on coral: algae-mediated, microbe-induced coral mortality. Ecol. Lett. 9, 835–845 (2006).

    Article Google Scholar

  21. Kuntz, N. M. et al. Pathologies and mortality rates caused by organic carbon and nutrient stressors in three Caribbean coral species. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 294, 173–180 (2005).

    Article Google Scholar

  22. Barott, K. L. & Rohwer, F. L. Unseen players shape benthic competition on coral reefs. Trends Microbiol. 20, 621–628 (2012).

    Article Google Scholar

  23. McCook, L., Jompa, J. & Diaz-Pulido, G. Competition between corals and algae on coral reefs: a review of evidence and mechanisms. Coral Reefs 19, 400–417 (2001).

    Article Google Scholar

  24. Jackson, J. B. C. et al. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293, 629–637 (2001).

    Article Google Scholar

  25. Nelson, C. E., Alldredge, A. L., McCliment, E. A., Amaral-Zettler, L. A. & Carlson, C. A. Depleted dissolved organic carbon and distinct bacterial communities in the water column of a rapid-flushing coral reef ecosystem. ISME J. 5, 1374–1387 (2011).

    Article Google Scholar

  26. Thingstad, T. F. et al. Counterintuitive carbon-to-nutrient coupling in an Arctic pelagic ecosystem. Nature 455, 387–390 (2008).

    Article Google Scholar

  27. Geller, A. Comparison of mechanisms enhancing biodegradability of refractory lake water constituents. Limnol. Oceanogr. 31, 755–764 (1986).

    Article Google Scholar

  28. van Nugteren, P. et al. Seafloor ecosystem functioning: the importance of organic matter priming. Mar. Biol. 156, 2277–2287 (2009).

    Article Google Scholar

  29. Zweifel, U. L., Norrman, B. & Hagstrom, A. Consumption of dissolved organic carbon by marine bacteria and demand for inorganic nutrients. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 101, 23–32 (1993).

    Article Google Scholar

  30. Del Giorgio, P. A., Cole, J. J. & Cimbleris, A. Respiration rates in bacteria exceed phytoplankton production in unproductive aquatic systems. Nature 385, 148–151 (1997).

    Article Google Scholar

  31. Weinbauer, M. G., Chen, F. & Wilhelm, S. W. in Microbial Carbon Pump in the Ocean (eds Jiao, N., Azam, F. & Sanders, S.) 54–56 (AAAS, 2011).

  32. Gili, J. M. & Coma, R. Benthic suspension feeders: their paramount role in littoral marine food webs. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 316–321 (1998).

    Article Google Scholar

  33. Kanehisa, M. & Goto, S. KEGG: Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 28, 27–30 (2000).

    Article Google Scholar

  34. Lauro, F. M. et al. The genomic basis of trophic strategy in marine bacteria. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 15527–15533 (2009).

    Article Google Scholar

  35. Harvell, C. D. et al. Emerging marine diseases—climate links and anthropogenic factors. Science 285, 1505–1510 (1999).

    Article Google Scholar

  36. Kim, B. H. & Gadd, G. M. Bacterial Physiology and Metabolism (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008).

    Book Google Scholar

  37. Romano, A. H. & Conway, T. Evolution of carbohydrate metabolic pathways. Res. Microbiol. 147, 448–455 (1996).

    Article Google Scholar

  38. Flamholz, A., Noor, E., Bar-Even, A., Liebermeister, W. & Milo, R. Glycolytic strategy as a tradeoff between energy yield and protein cost. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 10039–10044 (2013).

    Article Google Scholar

  39. Westerhoff, H. V., Hellingwerf, K. J. & Van Dam, K. Thermodynamic efficiency of microbial growth is low but optimal for maximal growth rate. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 80, 305–309 (1983).

    Article Google Scholar

  40. Stettner, A. I. & Segrè, D. The cost of efficiency in energy metabolism. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 9629–9630 (2013).

    Article Google Scholar

  41. Pfeiffer, T. & Schuster, S. Game-theoretical approaches to studying the evolution of biochemical systems. Trends Biochem. Sci. 30, 20–25 (2005).

    Article Google Scholar

  42. Odum, H. & Pinkerton, R. C. Time speed regulator: the optimum efficiency for the maximum power output in physical and biological systems. Am. Sci. 43, 331–343 (1955).

    Google Scholar

  43. Hankinson, O. Mutants of the pentose phosphate pathway in Aspergillus nidulans. J. Bacteriol. 117, 1121–1130 (1974).

    Google Scholar

  44. Sprenger, G. A. Genetics of pentose-phosphate pathway enzymes of Escherichia coli K-12. Arch. Microbiol. 164, 324–330 (1995).

    Article Google Scholar

  45. Haas, A. F. & Wild, C. Composition analysis of organic matter released by cosmopolitan coral reef-associated green algae. Aquat. Biol. 10, 131–138 (2010).

    Article Google Scholar

  46. Milner, H. W. in Algal Culture from Laboratory to Pilot Plant Vol. 600 (ed., Burlew, J. F.) 285–302 (Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1953).

  47. McDole, T. et al. Assessing coral reefs on a Pacific-wide scale using the microbialization score. PLoS ONE 7, e43233 (2012).

    Article Google Scholar

  48. Halpern, B. S. et al. A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science 319, 948–952 (2008).

    Article Google Scholar

  49. Joint, I., Doney, S. C. & Karl, D. M. Will ocean acidification affect marine microbes? ISME J. 5, 1–7 (2011).

    Article Google Scholar

  50. Price, N. N., Martz, T. R., Brainard, R. E. & Smith, J. E. Diel variability in seawater pH relates to calcification and benthic community structure on coral reefs. PLoS ONE 7, e43843 (2012).

    Article Google Scholar

  51. Preskitt, L. B., Vroom, P. S. & Smith, C. M. A rapid ecological assessment (REA) quantitative survey method for benthic algae using photo quadrats with SCUBA. Pacif. Sci. 58, 201–209 (2004).

    Article Google Scholar

  52. Haas, A. F. et al. Unraveling the unseen players in the ocean—a field guide to water chemistry and marine microbiology. J. Vis. Exp. 93, e52131 (2014).

    Google Scholar

  53. Sharp, J. H. et al. Final dissolved organic carbon broad community intercalibration and preliminary use of DOC reference materials. Mar. Chem. 77, 239–253 (2002).

    Article Google Scholar

  54. Hansell, D. A., Carlson, C. A., Repeta, D. J. & Schlitzer, R. Dissolved organic matter in the ocean: a controversy stimulates new insights. Oceanography 22, 202–211 (2009).

    Article Google Scholar

  55. Kelly, L. W. et al. Local genomic adaptation of coral reef-associated microbiomes to gradients of natural variability and anthropogenic stressors. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 10227–10232 (2014).

    Article Google Scholar

  56. Schmieder, R. & Edwards, R. Quality control and preprocessing of metagenomic datasets. Bioinformatics 27, 863–864 (2011).

    Article Google Scholar

  57. Camacho, C. et al. BLAST+: architecture and applications. BMC Bioinformatics 10, 421 (2009).

    Article Google Scholar

  58. Abubucker, S. et al. Metabolic reconstruction for metagenomic data and its application to the human microbiome. PLoS Comput. Biol. 8, e1002358 (2012).

    Article Google Scholar

  59. Chen, L. et al. VFDB: a reference database for bacterial virulence factors. Nucleic Acids Res. 33, 325–328 (2005).

    Article Google Scholar

  60. Nelson, P. R., Wludyka, P. S. & Copeland, K. A. The Analysis of Means: A Graphical Method for Comparing Means, Rates, and Proportions (SIAM, 2005).

    Book Google Scholar

Download references

Global microbialization of coral reefs (2024)

FAQs

What is the microbial ecology of coral reefs? ›

Coral microbial ecology is the study of the relationship of coral-associated microorganisms to each other, the coral host, and to their environment. Just as we humans have beneficial bacteria living on our skin and in our intestines, corals also have co-habitating non-pathogenic (not disease-causing) microbes.

What is microbialization of the ocean? ›

Over the past decades, increases in microbial abundance as well as changes in community structure and function have occurred in response to increased environmental stress mostly related to climate change and eutrophication. “Microbialization of the ocean” is the term used to describe this phenomenon.

How does global change affect coral reefs? ›

Altered ocean currents: leads to changes in connectivity and temperature regimes that contribute to lack of food for corals and hampers dispersal of coral larvae. Ocean acidification (a result of increased CO2): causes a reduction in pH levels which decreases coral growth and structural integrity.

What is the microbiome of the coral reef? ›

The coral-associated microbiome is distributed across specific locations in a coral colony and is composed of diverse microbes spanning the three domains of life. Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria are among the most-studied coral symbionts (left).

What are the microbial contributions to the persistence of coral reefs? ›

Microbial symbionts contribute to the physiology, development, immunity and behaviour of their hosts, and can respond very rapidly to changing environmental conditions, providing a powerful mechanism for acclimatisation and also possibly rapid evolution of coral reef holobionts.

Are coral reefs home to the greatest microbial diversity on Earth? ›

Coral reefs, bastions of marine biodiversity because of the abundant fish, invertebrates, and algae they support, are also home to Earth's greatest microbial diversity, according to a new estimate.

What is the meaning of microbialization? ›

Microbialization refers to the observed shift in ecosystem trophic structure towards higher microbial biomass and energy use.

What is the most abundant microbe in the ocean? ›

The water column is also home to what is potentially the most abundant microbe on the planet, a bacterium called Pelagibacter. This microbe usually accounts for about 25 percent of all the microbes in the water column, but during a bloom it likely will account for up to 50 percent.

How much of ocean is microbes? ›

Marine microbes are tiny, single-celled organisms that live in the ocean and account for more than 98 percent of ocean biomass.

What are the two greatest global threats to coral reefs? ›

Increased ocean temperatures and changing ocean chemistry are the greatest global threats to coral reef ecosystems. These threats are caused by warmer atmospheric temperatures and increasing levels of carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater. As atmospheric temperatures rise, so do seawater temperatures.

How is global change most significantly affecting coral reefs and sea life? ›

Ocean acidification slows the rate at which coral reefs generate calcium carbonate, thus slowing the growth of coral skeletons. Climate change can cause sea level rise; changes in the frequency, intensity, and distribution of tropical storms; and altered ocean circulation.

How is global warming most significantly affecting coral reefs and sea life? ›

Ocean acidification, or increased CO2 levels which result in the lowering of the pH of seawater, not only reduces the abundance of phytoplankton but also decreases calcification in certain marine animals like corals and shellfish, causing their skeletons to become weaker and growth to be impaired.

Why is the microbiome of coral important? ›

Microbiome contributes to the coral health homeostasis. Through multiple mechanisms, including the mitigation of toxic compounds, niche competition with exogenous microorganisms, antagonism against pathogens, and adaptation to environmental shifts, microbes in coral hosts play important roles (Fig.

What is the role of microbes in the coral reef? ›

In coral reef ecosystems, microorganisms are essential for recycling nutrients that are important to reef organisms - transforming bits of organic matter into nitrogen and phosphorus, for example.

What microbes are in coral reefs? ›

Just like in humans, and indeed most animals on the planet, the corals live in close association with their microbial communities, made up of algae, bacteria, fungi and even viruses or parasites. Each part of a coral's body has a unique set of microbes.

What is the microbial ecology of the ecosystem? ›

Microbial ecology (or environmental microbiology) is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life—Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria—as well as viruses.

What is microbial ecology in aquatic ecosystems? ›

Microbes are significant elements of aquatic ecosystem as they play a critical role in the biogeochemical (C, N, P, S, and metallic element) cycling pathways, transportation of nutrients, and mitigation of pollutants (Simon et al., 2002; Sang et al., 2018; Huang et al., 2022).

What is the ecological role of the coral reef? ›

Coral reefs support more species per unit area than any other marine environment, including about 4,000 species of fish, 800 species of hard corals and hundreds of other species. Scientists estimate that there may be millions of undiscovered species of organisms living in and around reefs.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Patricia Veum II

Last Updated:

Views: 6122

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (64 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Patricia Veum II

Birthday: 1994-12-16

Address: 2064 Little Summit, Goldieton, MS 97651-0862

Phone: +6873952696715

Job: Principal Officer

Hobby: Rafting, Cabaret, Candle making, Jigsaw puzzles, Inline skating, Magic, Graffiti

Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.