Key Points
California [US], November 2 (ANI): A recent study provided the first characterisation of the coral microbiome under hypoxia or low oxygen levels in the water...
The study is a first step towards discovering potentially helpful microorganisms for corals exposed to this environmental stressor...
We then sampled the microorganisms living on corals in those chambers and corals outside the chambers after 2 days to see how the community of microbes differed with and without the stress of low oxygen...
The researchers found that when oxygen levels dropped, the overall coral microbiome changed after only 48 hours, and the number of some specific types of bacteria increased...
Because corals vary in their sensitivity to deoxygenation and given the crucial role of microorganisms in coral health, we suggest that changes in the microbiome may influence coral resilience to low oxygen conditions..
