Evidence for de novo acquisition of microalgal symbionts by bleached adult corals

This study tested whether bleached adult corals can acquire photosymbionts (family Symbiodiniaceae) from the environment. We subjected adult fragments of six coral species to a chemical bleaching treatment: P. lobata, D. heliopora, S. pistillata, D. pallida, E. lamellosa and P. daedalea. The bleached corals were then inoculated with a cultured symbiont (a Cladocopium C1acro strain). Genotyping of the symbiont communities before bleaching and after reinoculation was carried out. Full details are in the paper Scharfenstein et al. (2022).