MERMAID - Metagenomic Examinations of Reefs; Microbial Assessments Including Disease
MERMAID - Metagenomic Examinations of Reefs; Microbial Assessments Including Disease
Reef Metagenomics
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
Antibiotic-Resistance Gene (ARG) Baselines
This project aims to understand the microbial processes, including disease, that influence the health of coral reef communities. We use microbiology and molecular biology techniques to better understand the role of microorganisms in shaping reef structure and function.
Why Does the USGS Study the Microbes Found on Coral Reefs?
The loss and degradation of coral-reef ecosystems are occurring at increasing rates worldwide, in no small part due to coral diseases and die-offs of important herbivores like Diadema sea urchins. This decline negatively impacts society via removal of the ecosystem services provided by reefs, including storm protection, food supply through fish habitat, and tourism. Microbes play critical roles in the health of coral reefs, yet are generally underappreciated despite their ubiquity, abundance, complexity, and formative roles in the metabolic and chemical processes on reefs, including as agents of disease or as markers of land-based pollution.
Project MERMAID
MERMAID aims to increase our understanding of the critical and complex relationships between corals and microbes and their importance in reef health. This project employs a variety of metagenomic tools and methods to identify and track disease-causing agents that are negatively affecting coral reef ecosystems, establish biomarkers of stress or land-based pollution in coral reef ecosystems, and uncover new connections between abiotic conditions (e.g., measurement of sedimentation, nutrients, water circulation) and their biological effects on corals.
For more details, please see our topical pages on:
- Characterizing microbial communities of healthy and degraded reefs to determine if there are microbial species or functional genes that can serve as indicators that correlate with reef processes such as calcification and submarine groundwater discharge.
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease:
- Investigating the unknown causative agent(s) of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) and determining possible modes of disease transmission.
Antibiotic-Resistance Gene (ARG) Baselines:
- Generating benchmark datasets on the presence/absence and diversity of antibiotic-resistance genes in coral tissue and reef sediments.
Coral Reef Project
Microbial Processes on Reefs
Coral Microbial Ecology
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
Coral Disease
This project aims to understand the microbial processes, including disease, that influence the health of coral reef communities. We use microbiology and molecular biology techniques to better understand the role of microorganisms in shaping reef structure and function.
Why Does the USGS Study the Microbes Found on Coral Reefs?
The loss and degradation of coral-reef ecosystems are occurring at increasing rates worldwide, in no small part due to coral diseases and die-offs of important herbivores like Diadema sea urchins. This decline negatively impacts society via removal of the ecosystem services provided by reefs, including storm protection, food supply through fish habitat, and tourism. Microbes play critical roles in the health of coral reefs, yet are generally underappreciated despite their ubiquity, abundance, complexity, and formative roles in the metabolic and chemical processes on reefs, including as agents of disease or as markers of land-based pollution.
Project MERMAID
MERMAID aims to increase our understanding of the critical and complex relationships between corals and microbes and their importance in reef health. This project employs a variety of metagenomic tools and methods to identify and track disease-causing agents that are negatively affecting coral reef ecosystems, establish biomarkers of stress or land-based pollution in coral reef ecosystems, and uncover new connections between abiotic conditions (e.g., measurement of sedimentation, nutrients, water circulation) and their biological effects on corals.
For more details, please see our topical pages on:
- Characterizing microbial communities of healthy and degraded reefs to determine if there are microbial species or functional genes that can serve as indicators that correlate with reef processes such as calcification and submarine groundwater discharge.
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease:
- Investigating the unknown causative agent(s) of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) and determining possible modes of disease transmission.
Antibiotic-Resistance Gene (ARG) Baselines:
- Generating benchmark datasets on the presence/absence and diversity of antibiotic-resistance genes in coral tissue and reef sediments.