The Tara Pacific expedition studied Pacific coral reefs from 2016 to 2018. The researchers examined 32 archipelagos and collected 58,000 samples to describe the biodiversity of reefs and nearby open water systems.
Rebecca Vega Thurber of the University of California, Santa Barbara and colleagues used genomic methods to study the coral reef microbiome. They examined bacteria from two types of stony coral and one type of fire coral, a colonial organism more closely related to jellyfish than to stony corals. From reef-building coral samples the team reconstructed more than 13,000 metagenome-assembled microbial genomes.
About ninety percent of the genomes were new to science, and Thurber said, "That’s a total of 3,700 new bacteria we discovered through this approach." Almost all of the newly discovered bacteria were specific to their coral hosts and not found in the surrounding water. These microbes produce bioactive metabolites that bacteria use to grow, communicate and defend themselves, and the researchers see potential uses in medicine and industry, such as drugs, detergents, concrete development and biotechnology materials.
The team also reported new groups of Acidobacteriota with previously unknown enzymology that could help in protein engineering. They noted that the microbiome biosynthetic potential rivaled or surpassed that of sponges. The study covered only three coral species out of hundreds, and the researchers warned that these discoveries exist in fragile ecosystems facing ocean warming and bleaching, so conserving reefs is vital.
Difficult words
- expedition — a journey for scientific research and exploration
- microbiome — all tiny organisms living in one environment
- genome — the complete set of genetic materialgenomes
- metabolite — a chemical produced by living organisms during activitymetabolites
- enzymology — the study of enzymes and how they work
- conserve — to protect something so it continues to existconserving
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Discussion questions
- Why do you think conserving coral reefs is important for science and people?
- What possible uses for the microbes did the researchers mention, and which seems most useful to you?
- The study looked at only three coral species. How could studying more species change our knowledge?
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