title: Unraveling the microbial processes of black band disease in corals through integrated genomics.
abstract: Coral disease outbreaks contribute to the ongoing degradation of reef ecosystems, however, microbial mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of most coral diseases are poorly understood. Black band disease (BBD) manifests as a cyanobacterial-dominated microbial mat that destroys coral tissues as it rapidly spreads over coral colonies. To elucidate BBD pathogenesis, we apply a comparative metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approach to identify taxonomic and functional changes within microbial lesions during in-situ development of BBD from a comparatively benign stage termed cyanobacterial patches. Results suggest that photosynthetic CO2-fixation in Cyanobacteria substantially enhances productivity of organic matter within the lesion during disease development. Photosynthates appear to subsequently promote sulfide-production by Deltaproteobacteria, facilitating the major virulence factor of BBD. Interestingly, our metagenome-enabled transcriptomic analysis reveals that BBD-associated cyanobacteria have a putative mechanism that enables them to adapt to higher levels of hydrogen sulfide within lesions, underpinning the pivotal roles of the dominant cyanobacterium within the polymicrobial lesions during the onset of BBD. The current study presents sequence-based evidence derived from whole microbial communities that unravel the mechanism of development and progression of BBD.
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Townsville 4810, Australia.
authors.forename: Yui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Global Change Institute, School of Agriculture &Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Edmund Y S
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Dmitrij
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turaev
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Townsville 4810, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laffy
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Townsville 4810, Australia.
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Weynberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rattei
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia.|College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: Bette L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Townsville 4810, Australia.|College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Bourne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D023281:Genomics; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics; D008954:Models, Biological; D010788:Photosynthesis; D013440:Sulfides / Q000378:metabolism; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D013440:Sulfides