The microbial community on coral reefs is generally underappreciated given the ubiquity, abundance, complexity, and formative role these prokaryotes serve in the metabolic and chemical processes on reefs. We use microbiological and metagenomic techniques to decipher the roles the microbial community are playing in processes such as coral disease, submarine groundwater discharge, calcification, and dissolution.
Coral diseases were first reported on reefs in the Florida Keys and Caribbean in the 1970s, and
in the decades since, they have been reported worldwide and with increasing frequency. Disease is now recognized as one of the major causes of reef degradation and coral mortality, and a recent outbreak of “Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD)” has decimated millions of corals on the Florida reef tract that is now progressing through other U.S. jurisdictions in the Caribbean region. Recent research has suggested that coral diseases may be secondary opportunistic infections, rather than the result of primary pathogens, making it imperative to understand the microbial shifts that accompany the transition from healthy to diseased corals (Kellogg and others, 2013; Kellogg and others, 2014). Additionally, we need to determine if the spread of coral disease is affected by the level of connectivity among water masses, organisms, trophic levels, or habitats.
Metagenomics is the study of all microbial genes (taxonomic and functional) within a particular host or habitat. Metagenomic techniques uncover both “who is there” and some level of “what they are doing” by comparing sequenced genes against databases of knowns. This is an emerging field and these techniques have only begun to be applied to coral reef environments. We will combine metadata such as water quality indicators, nutrients, microbial load, and carbonate system parameters with the power of metagenomics to investigate correlations between certain environmental states (e.g., patterns of total alkalinity) and particular microbial groups or microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes to describe the biochemical differences between degraded and healthy reefs.
The results will uncover changes in metabolic processes (via functional genes) between healthy and senescent reefs with the goal of uncovering new drivers of reef metabolism.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Coral Microbial Ecology
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
Reef History and Climate Change
Holocene Coral-Reef Development
Coral Reef Seafloor Erosion and Coastal Hazards
Measuring Coral Growth to Help Restore Reefs
- Overview
The microbial community on coral reefs is generally underappreciated given the ubiquity, abundance, complexity, and formative role these prokaryotes serve in the metabolic and chemical processes on reefs. We use microbiological and metagenomic techniques to decipher the roles the microbial community are playing in processes such as coral disease, submarine groundwater discharge, calcification, and dissolution.
Coral diseases were first reported on reefs in the Florida Keys and Caribbean in the 1970s, and
in the decades since, they have been reported worldwide and with increasing frequency. Disease is now recognized as one of the major causes of reef degradation and coral mortality, and a recent outbreak of “Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD)” has decimated millions of corals on the Florida reef tract that is now progressing through other U.S. jurisdictions in the Caribbean region. Recent research has suggested that coral diseases may be secondary opportunistic infections, rather than the result of primary pathogens, making it imperative to understand the microbial shifts that accompany the transition from healthy to diseased corals (Kellogg and others, 2013; Kellogg and others, 2014). Additionally, we need to determine if the spread of coral disease is affected by the level of connectivity among water masses, organisms, trophic levels, or habitats.
Metagenomics is the study of all microbial genes (taxonomic and functional) within a particular host or habitat. Metagenomic techniques uncover both “who is there” and some level of “what they are doing” by comparing sequenced genes against databases of knowns. This is an emerging field and these techniques have only begun to be applied to coral reef environments. We will combine metadata such as water quality indicators, nutrients, microbial load, and carbonate system parameters with the power of metagenomics to investigate correlations between certain environmental states (e.g., patterns of total alkalinity) and particular microbial groups or microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes to describe the biochemical differences between degraded and healthy reefs.
The results will uncover changes in metabolic processes (via functional genes) between healthy and senescent reefs with the goal of uncovering new drivers of reef metabolism.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Figure 2. Filtering water in a ship-board lab for metagenomic analyses. (Credit: Christina Kellogg, USGS. Public domain.)
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Figure 3. Using a kayak as a platform to collect water samples for reef metagenomic analyses in Kaua’i. (Credit: Amy West, USGS. Public domain.) - Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Coral Microbial Ecology
The coral microbial ecology group has an active research program identifying and characterizing the microbial associates of both tropical and cold-water (deep-sea) corals and their surrounding habitat. Current projects focus on coral disease dynamics, bacterial diversity, and using metagenomics to elucidate the functional roles of coral microbes.Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
The specific objectives of this project are to identify and describe the processes that are important in determining rates of coral-reef construction. How quickly the skeletons of calcifying organisms accumulate to form massive barrier-reef structure is determined by processes of both construction (how fast organisms grow and reproduce) and destruction (how fast reefs break down by mechanical...Reef History and Climate Change
Ecosystem-wide study of seafloor erosion, changing coastal water depths, and effects on coastal storm and wave impacts along the Florida Keys Coral Reef Tract in South Florida.Holocene Coral-Reef Development
With the continuing threat of climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances, the future of Florida's coral reefs is uncertain. One way to gain insights into the future trajectories of Florida's coral reefs is to investigate how they responded to environmental disturbances in the past.Coral Reef Seafloor Erosion and Coastal Hazards
Synchronized field work focused on geochemistry, geology, and metabolic processes overlaid on a habitat map of an entire reef to produce a synoptic overview of reef processes that contribute to carbonate precipitation and dissolution.Measuring Coral Growth to Help Restore Reefs
It is critical to start measuring calcification rates in a systematic way now, particularly at subtropical latitudes where conditions fluctuate seasonally, so that we can understand how dynamic ocean conditions affect calcifying organisms today and predict possible changes in the future. We established a calcification monitoring network in the Florida Keys and have been measuring calcification... - Publications