Montastraea cavernosa 16S metagenome. coral reef metagenome

There is much to be learned about the roles of prokaryotic microbes (bacteria and archaea) in the physiology, biochemistry, and ecology of reef-forming corals. The importance of greater understanding of prokaryote associations has become especially evident because it is now known that many corals harbor endosymbiotic prokaryotes with multiple, significant effects on coral biology. This project will assess how different prokaryotic communities affect the biogeochemistry of nitrogen within the coral, and how these microbial communities, and the functions they carry out, are affected by global climate change. To accomplish this, the latest high-throughput-sequencing (metagenomic and metatranscriptomic) tools will be used to examine the taxonomic and functional diversity of these symbioses in a model coral from the Caribbean, Montastraea cavernosa. Proposed experiments will elucidate the effects of thermal stress on these prokaryotic communities from individual corals.