In this video segment, ZOOM guest Cassie takes us on a tour of the coral reef near her home in Key Largo, Florida, and points out some of its unique features.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are known to partner with a number of organisms for survival. including nitrogen-fixing microbes known as diazotrophs. A new study examined how these and other microbes vary among corals of different species and from different parts of the world— namely, Hawai’i, Curaçao, and Australia. The microbial makeup of the coral microbiome was found to vary with coral species, location, and ecological life history. For example, while diazotrophs of the order Rhizobiales were common to all coral microbiomes, they were 8 times as abundant in corals from Hawai’i than in corals from Curaçao or Australia. Interestingly, however, the factor contributing to the biggest differences in community structure was coral shape. Plate-like, branching, and solitary corals, for instance, showed communities that were genetically distinct from boulder-like corals. These findings confirm the known effects of coral shape and size on attributes such as light and food capture, gas exchange, and metabolism..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Biodiversity keeps our planet stable. Each species, no matter how small, plays an important role in this global balancing act. That’s why the current pace of biodiversity loss is so alarming. Unfortunately, slowing that pace is extremely difficult. Scientists must first take on the virtually impossible task of measuring the richness and variety of all life on earth—the tools for which are prone to error. Now, researchers have applied a technique that promises estimates that more closely reflect true biodiversity. Proven insightful for stony coral species found throughout the world, the approach could potentially be extended to other animals and plants. Researchers typically use two types of methods to measure biodiversity: by consulting occurrence datasets, which describe points where species have been physically counted, or by combining maps describing geographical ranges where a species is predicted to occur. Each has its own drawbacks. Occurrence datasets tend to be incomplete..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Around 125,000 years ago Earth was relatively warmer than today All because Earth’s orbit permitted greater exposure to incoming solar rays This time period provides an example of how Earth’s climate might respond to future warming A recent study used fossil corals to explore past changes within the Tropical Atlantic a region sensitive to shifts in the rain belt that spans the equator Any effect this has on water bodies is captured within the reefs built by corals Oxygen isotopes within seven corals reveal 85 years of seasonal climate change Pairing the coral data with computer simulations showed the rain belt moved farther north bringing more summer rain to the islands of the South Caribbean, such as Bonaire in contrast to the dry weather found in the region today Brocas et al. Last Interglacial Hydroclimate Seasonality Reconstructed From Tropical Atlantic Corals..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are important ocean ecosystems. However, they have been declining in recent years due to human activities, including elevated nitrate in the water. Corals maintain complex relationships with numerous microbes, including the dinoflagellate algae Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria. To better understand the impact of nitrate on coral and their resident microbes, researchers recently examined coral and microbial gene expression changes in larval Pocillopora damicornis. Under elevated nitrate conditions, the Symbiodiniaceae algae generally hoarded more nutrients for its own growth. Normally Symbiodiniaceae share nutrients with the coral, so this was a shift from a mutualistic relationship to a parasitic one, which led to impaired development in the larval coral. However, the prokaryotic microbes might reduce this negative interaction by restraining Symbiodiniaceae growth, which partially restores coral larval development..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Giant clams are keystone species of coral reef ecosystems. Like coral, giant clams harbor a vibrant community of algae and bacteria. But unlike coral, little is known about how these microorganisms help giant clams thrive or cause them to perish. To find out, authors of a new study placed giant clams in aquariums with one or two species of coral. DNA profiling revealed that the clams were home to three distinct varieties of microbial communities, or “microbiotypes”. Interestingly, these microbiotypes weren’t altered by changes in water temperature or by the type of coral species placed near clams. But dying clams did show one trait in common—an overwhelming presence of bacteria from the vibrionaceae family, which in humans are usually associated with infection from eating undercooked seafood. What’s more, clams died most frequently around coral of the species Acropora cytherea. That suggests that Acropora cytherea could make giant clams susceptible to infection by vibrionaceae bacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Octocorals are found worldwide and are a significant part of the biodiversity in temperate marine biomes. Like most animals, corals have complex interactions with microbes, which likely have critical impacts on their health. However, very little is known about the structure and function of the octocoral microbiome or the interactions with their host. A new study examined the microbiome diversity and secondary metabolism of different octocoral species and healthy versus unhealthy tissue. Healthy octocorals have a microbiome that is distinct from the surrounding environment, host genus-specific, and defined by so-far uncultured groups of bacteria. In contrast, the microbiome of necrotic coral tissue shows large shifts in its community structure compared to healthy tissue and is colonized by seawater bacteria. Functional analysis showed that healthy corals were enriched in microbial genes associated with antiviral defense, host-symbiont recognition, micronutrient acquisition and heat-stress response..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Coral reefs are among the most productive and biodiverse environments on the Planet. Join Scripps Oceanography marine ecologist Stuart Sandin as he describes his travels to untouched parts of the globe to conduct scientific research aimed at understanding and protecting these fragile ecosystems. Learn how he and his colleagues are working to establish the scientific basis for what constitutes a healthy coral reef and how they are probing the causes of coral reef decline. (58 minutes)

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are critical to the survival of ocean species. These richly diverse habitats support almost one-third of the world’s marine coastal species. But in addition to environmental concerns, they can also be affected by predators. One such predator is the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), which threatens Indo-Pacific coral reef ecosystem integrity and biodiversity. While some aspects of the species’ biology have been studied intensively, little is known about its associated microbiota. In a recent study, researchers evaluated bacteria associated with 205 COTS samples from 17 locations in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Using DNA sequencing, they determined that one bacterial species – which they termed COTS27 – dominates. The bacterium forms a biofilm-like structure in the subcuticular space, between the cuticle and epidermis and its genome includes traits related to adaptation to marine environments and evolution as a symbiont in subcuticular spaces..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Marine sponges are an ecologically important component of the sea floor. In addition to providing a habitat for a diverse array of marine species, they also mediate biogeochemical fluxes by filtering organic matter, facilitating nutrient consumption and release. But while their interaction with picoplankton, bacteria, and archaea has been extensively studied, the interaction of sponges with viral-like particles is poorly understood. A recent study examined this ‘dark matter’ in this ecologically important symbiosis. Researchers assessed nine sponge species from the Great Barrier Reef and seven species from the Red Sea. Viromic sequencing revealed host-specific and site-specific patterns in viral communities. All sponge species were dominated by the bacteriophage order Caudovirales, but large DNA virus families were also represented. While core viral functions were consistent across viromes, putative auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) were differentially represented..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are especially sensitive to environmental changes, which is evident from mass “bleaching” events, where corals expel the microalgae living in their cells. Reefs have suffered during both climate change and oil contamination, and chemical remediation efforts can harm corals further. A recent study sought to evaluate the impacts of oil contamination and find potential alternatives to chemical dispersants. Using a mesocosm experiment with the fire coral Millepora alcicornis, which is sensitive to environmental changes, researchers constructed a realistic oil-spill scenario and compared the effects of a chemical dispersant, Corexit 9500, to those of bioremediators. They found that bioremediators – bacteria, filamentous fungi, and yeast – helped to mitigate the effects of the oil and maintain the integrity of the coral. In contrast, the chemical dispersant negatively affected host physiology and altered the coral-associated microbial community..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are unique hotspots of marine biodiversity, and millions of humans rely on them. However, ocean warming is causing reef-building corals to bleach, or expel their symbiotic algae, and die at unprecedented rates. Severe bleaching events are accelerating, so strategies to enhance coral stress resistance are needed. One possible strategy involves manipulation of corals’ rich and diverse microbiomes. A recent study investigated the effects of a new method, coral microbiome transplantation, on heat resistance in Pocillopora and Porites corals. The researchers used homogenized tissues from heat-tolerant donor corals to inoculate heat-sensitive recipient corals of the same species. They found that the recipients bleached less than seawater-inoculated control corals during short-term heat stress, indicating improved heat tolerance. And 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding revealed several donor-specific bacterial species, indicating that microbe transmission took place in both corals, Pocillopora and Porites..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.