Probiotics reshape the coral microbiome in situ without detectable off-target effects in the surrounding environment

• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06135-3
• Publication Date: 2024-04-09T18:02:20Z
• Authors: Nathalia Delgadil...; Neus Garcias-Bonet; Inês Raimundo; Francisca C. García; Helena Villela; Eslam O. Osman; Erika P. Santoro; Joao Curdia; Joao G. D. Rosado; Pedro Cardoso; Ahmed Alsaggaf; Adam Barno; Chakkiath Paul An...; Carolina Bocanegra; Michael L. Berumen; Christian R. Vool...; Francesca Benzoni; Susana Carvalho; Raquel S. Peixoto
• Keywords: Anthozoa; Pseudoalteromonas

Beneficial microorganisms for corals (BMCs), or probiotics, can enhance coral resilience against stressors in laboratory trials. However, the ability of probiotics to restructure microbiome situ is yet be determined. As a first step elucidate this, we inoculated putative probiotic bacteria (pBMCs) on healthy colonies Pocillopora verrucosa Red Sea, three times per week, during 3 months. pBMCs significantly influenced microbiome, while surrounding seawater and sediment remained unchanged. The genera Halomonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Bacillus were enriched probiotic-treated corals. Furthermore, treatment also correlated with an increase other beneficial groups (e.g., Ruegeria Limosilactobacillus), decrease potential pathogens, such as Vibrio. all (treated non-treated) throughout experiment, could not track health improvements protection stress. Our data indicate that healthy, therefore stable, microbiomes restructured situ, although repeated continuous inoculations may required these cases. Further, our study provides supporting evidence that, at studied scale, have no detectable off-target effects near