A piece of diseased great star coral for testing and treatment (IMAGE)
Caption
A close look at a piece of diseased great star coral (Montastraea cavernosa) that is cut and ready for testing and treatment in an aquarium. The white coral skeleton on the left shows where two coral polyps have already died from stony coral tissue loss disease (SCLTD). Researchers with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have discovered the first effective bacterial probiotic for treating and preventing SCTLD, a mysterious ailment that has devastated Florida’s coral reefs since 2014 and is rapidly spreading throughout the Caribbean. While probing how the disease is spread, the research team discovered that some fragments of great star coral swiftly developed SCTLD’s characteristic lesions and died, but other pieces never got sick at all. Though the precise cause of SCTLD is unknown, the efficacy of antibiotics as a treatment suggested pathogenic bacteria were somehow involved in the progression of the disease. For this reason, the researchers collected samples of the naturally occurring, non-pathogenic bacteria present on a pair of disease-resistant great star coral fragments for testing. With these samples, the research team aimed to identify what, if any, naturally occurring microorganisms were protecting some great star corals from SCTLD.
Credit
Kelly Pitts
Usage Restrictions
News media use of these photos in relation to the study is permitted with attribution.
License
Original content