Capturing microbial signatures of coral health during a multi-species, multi-disease outbreak in the Florida Keys

Many studies describe coral pathobiomes of specific diseases; however, geographic and temporal variability prevent the detection of microbial signatures that may be common across all diseases. Here we elucidate the microbial signature of a multi-species, multi-disease outbreak within one reef ecosystem. Within two days, active lesions from several diseases represented across several coral species were collected at two reefs <12km apart in the Florida Keys.