Novel metagenomics analysis of stony coral tissue loss disease.

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has devastated coral reefs off the coast of Florida and continues to spread throughout the Caribbean. Although a number of bacterial taxa have consistently been associated with SCTLD, no pathogen has been definitively implicated in the etiology of SCTLD. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the prokaryotic community through 16S rRNA sequencing of healthy and affected tissues.

Novel metagenomics analysis of stony coral tissue loss disease.

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has devastated coral reefs off the coast of Florida and continues to spread throughout the Caribbean. Although a number of bacterial taxa have consistently been associated with SCTLD, no pathogen has been definitively implicated in the etiology of SCTLD. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the prokaryotic community through 16S rRNA sequencing of healthy and affected tissues.

A meta-analysis of the stony coral tissue loss disease microbiome finds key bacteria in unaffected and lesion tissue in diseased colonies.

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has been causing significant whole colony mortality on reefs in Florida and the Caribbean. The cause of SCTLD remains unknown, with the limited concurrence of SCTLD-associated bacteria among studies. We conducted a meta-analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene datasets generated by 16 field and laboratory SCTLD studies to find consistent bacteria associated with SCTLD across disease zones (vulnerable, endemic, and epidemic), coral species, coral compartments (mucus, tissue, and skeleton), and colony health states (apparently healthy colony tissue (AH), and unaffected (DU) and lesion (DL) tissue from diseased colonies).

Methodological recommendations for assessing scleractinian and octocoral recruitment to settlement tiles.

Quantifying recruitment of corals is important for evaluating their capacity to recover after disturbances through natural processes, yet measuring recruitment rates is challenging due to the minute size of the study organism and the complexity of benthic communities. Settlement tiles are widely used in studies of coral recruitment because they can be viewed under a microscope to enhance accuracy, but methodological choices such as the rugosity of tiles used and when and how to scan tiles for recruits post-collection may cause inconsistencies in measured recruitment rates. We deployed 2,880 tiles with matching rugosity on top and bottom surfaces to 30 sites along the Florida Reef Tract for year-long saturations during a three year study.

Characterization of the Microbiome of Corals with Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease along Florida's Coral Reef.

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is an emergent and often lethal coral disease that was first reported near Miami, FL (USA) in 2014. Our objective was to determine if coral colonies showing signs of SCTLD possess a specific microbial signature across five susceptible species sampled in Florida's Coral Reef. Three sample types were collected: lesion tissue and apparently unaffected tissue of diseased colonies, and tissue of apparently healthy colonies.

and Are Associated With Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and Its Suspected Sources of Transmission.

In 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) was first detected off the coast of Miami, FL, United States, and continues to persist and spread along the Florida Reef Tractr (FRT) and into the Caribbean. SCTLD can have up to a 61% prevalence in reefs and has affected at least 23 species of scleractinian corals. This has contributed to the regional near-extinction of at least one coral species, .