Microbial community structure of coral tumour

Skeletal tissue growth anomalies known as STAs tumorous growths of the coral skeleton that suppress coral growth. Here we conducted a comparative investigation of the bacterial communities associated with the healthy and tumour infected Turbinaria mesenterina colonies using the metagenomics approach. Significant differences were observed in the bacterial communities where the Bacteroides group dominant in healthy corals was replaced by opportunistic groups such as Planctomycetes and Verrucomicrobia.