Spatial distribution of microbial communities among colonies and genotypes in nursery-reared Acropora cervicornis

The architecturally important coral species Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata were historically common in the Caribbean, but have declined precipitously since the early 1980s. Substantial resources are currently being dedicated to coral gardening and the subsequent outplanting of asexually reproduced colonies of Acropora, activities that provide abundant biomass for both restoration efforts and for experimental studies to better understand the ecology of these critically endangered coral species.

We characterized the bacterial and archaeal community composition of A. cervicornis corals in a Caribbean nursery to determine the heterogeneity of the microbiome within and among colonies. Samples were taken from three distinct locations (basal branch, intermediate branch, and branch tip) from colonies of three different coral genotypes.

Overall, microbial community composition was similar among colonies due to high relative abundances of the Rickettsiales genus MD3-55 (Candidatus Aquarickettsia) in nearly all samples. While microbial communities were not different among locations within the same colony, they were significantly different between coral genotypes. These findings suggest that sampling from any one location on a coral host is likely to provide a representative sample of the microbial community for the entire colony. Our results also suggest that subtle differences in microbiome composition may be influenced by the coral host, where different coral genotypes host slightly different microbiomes. Finally, this study provides baseline data for future studies seeking to understand the microbiome of nursery-reared A. cervicornis and its roles in coral health, adaptability, and resilience.