Rodríguez-Villalobos, J.C., V., Osuna-González, M., Rojas-Contreras & N.C., Saavedra-Sotelo (2026). Bacterial community and tissue shifts in the coral holobiont Pocillopora verrucosa affected by white syndrome. Regional Studies in Marine Science. 93: 104716. DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2025.104716.
Jenny Carolina Rodríguez-Villalobos 1, Virginia Osuna-González 2, Maurilia Rojas-Contreras 3 y Nancy Claudia Saavedra-Sotelo 2
Coral reefs are currently undergoing degradation due to unfavorable environmental conditions. The health of coral colonies is influenced by the composition of their associated microbial communities, and changes in these communities can lead to disease, as evidenced by gross and microscopic morphological lesions. This study describes the histological condition of coral tissues and compares the cultivable fraction of bacterial communities associated with the coral holobiont Pocillopora spp. from the Gulf of California in both healthy and white syndrome (WS)-affected colonies. Microscopical tissue alterations were evident in affected colonies, and the presence of ciliates near the lesion margin was confirmed. The bacterial microbiota from three Pocillopora verrucosa tissue types (healthy, WS-affected, and apparently healthy) were cultured, identified, and compared. Ninety isolated bacteria representing 56 different taxa were molecularly identified across the three tissue types. Despite high bacterial diversity, there were no significant differences in the diversity among the three tissue types. Although Vibrionaceae species are commonly associated with marine pathogens, we did not find any bacterium that could be primarily associated with the presence of WS. Nevertheless, many of the identified species may play roles in disease pathogenesis (e.g., Bacillus flexus and species from the Rhodobacteraceae family).
Palabras clave: Coral diseases; Microbial consortium; dysbiosis; Marine pathogen
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