Probiotic
treatment
of
Montastraea
cavernosa
colonies
using
a
whole-colony
bagging
technique.
Frontiers
in
Marine
Science
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A
beneficial
bacterial
probiotic
is
restoring
hope
for
mitigating
disease
spread
in
corals
off
the
coast
of
Florida.
In
a
new
study,
scientists
have
investigated
the
effectiveness
of
a
compound
produced
by
the
probiotic
strain
MCH1-7
for
combating
the
deadly
stony
coral
tissue
loss
disease.
MCH1-7
was
first
uncovered
by
scientists
from
the
Smithsonian
Marine
Station
in
2018
and
was
found
on
a
coral
colony
that
had
naturally
resisted
an
outbreak
of
stony
coral
tissue
loss
disease
(SCTLD).
Scientists
have
previously
tested
the
bacterial
probiotic
on
adult
corals,
but
now
have
published
research
in
the
journal
Frontiers
in
Marine
Science
on
how
this
probiotic
could
limit
disease
spread
in
young
corals.
Scientists
are
investigating
a
compound
known
as
tetrabromopyrrole
(TPB),
which
is
produced
by
the
bacteria,
and
how
it
may
protect
entire
colonies
from
the
disease.
“If
TBP
is
a
natural
settlement
cue,
and
if
bacteria
that
also
produce
this
compound
protect
corals
from
disease,
it
makes
sense
that
larvae
would
settle
where
those
compounds
are
being
produced,”
Jennifer
Sneed,
biologist
at
Smithsonian
Marine
Station,
said
in
a
statement.
“More
of
them
would
survive
to
be
able
to
recognize
the
compound.”
[embedded content]
To
test
the
compound,
researchers
applied
the
probiotic
to
great
star
coral
(Montastraea
cavernosa)
in
two
different
ways:
injecting
the
probiotic
into
seawater
inside
a
weighted
bag
placed
around
the
coral,
and
through
a
paste
applied
directly
to
disease-related
lesions
on
the
coral.
The
former
method
allowed
observers
to
test
for
whole-colony
treatment
effectiveness.
From
there,
the
team
monitored
the
corals
and
tested
coral
samples
for
2.5
years
after
treatment.
As
Mongabay
News
reported,
the
corals
treated
via
whole-colony
treatment
lost
about
7%
of
tissue
from
the
disease,
compared
to
untreated
corals
that
lost
35%
of
their
tissue
on
average
to
SCTLD.
These
results
continued
over
the
course
of
the
research,
with
the
probiotic
treatment
slowing
the
disease
spread
for
2.5
years
after
application.
However,
the
paste
application
to
individual
lesions
was
not
similarly
effective.
In
response,
the
researchers
determined
a
way
to
apply
the
probiotics
to
corals
via
scuba
diving
and
confirmed
the
method
would
not
disrupt
other
healthy
Caribbean
coral
species,
which
could
lead
to
a
useful
SCTLD
treatment
for
full
coral
colonies
in
the
future.
“While
the
whole-colony
bagging
method
does
involve
more
material
transport
by
divers
and
more
time
for
deployment
and
retrieval,
its
performance
at
treating
SCTLD
and
promoting
long-term
resistance
outweigh
these
costs
and
is
therefore
the
recommended
application
method
of
those
we
tested
for
probiotic
treatments
such
as
the
McH1–7
strain,”
the
authors
wrote
in
the
study.
The
authors
stressed
that
more
research
is
needed
to
make
this
potential
treatment
a
reality,
and
additional
studies
should
be
done
to
uncover
further
treatments
for
treating
various
coral
species
affected
by
the
deadly
stony
coral
tissue
loss
disease.
“It’s
important
to
understand
that
this
is
the
very
beginning,”
Kelly
Pitts,
lead
author
of
the
study
and
researcher
at
Smithsonian
Marine
Station,
told
Mongabay
News.
“This
is
definitely
not
a
cure-all,
but
we’re
definitely
moving
in
the
right
direction.”
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