Coral microbiome transplantation

Coral probiotics promises to enhance heat tolerance and help corals face the pressures of ocean warming. We conducted coral microbiome transplantation (CMT) trials in the Andaman Sea to test whether this strategy would modify the bacterial microbiome while benefitting heat tolerance. Initially, heat tolerant donors were identified in the wild for the cosmopolitan corals Pocillopora and Porites. We then used donor-tissue homogenates to inoculate conspecific heat sensitive recipients while tracking the microbiome by 16S rRNA meta-barcoding.