Coralline companions: Exploring microbes in coral ecosystems

Abstract

Coral reefs exhibit remarkable resilience to natural disturbances but face challenges due to global changes and emerging diseases. In the present study, we recorded a total of 51 ciliates and over 400 bacteria associated with healthy and diseased corals from the Ramsar site Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, India, based on morphology, silver staining, and Next Generation Sequencing. Our study contributes to the growing understanding of ciliate diversity and provides insights into the dynamics of ciliate-associated coral diseases, towards developing effective biocontrol agents for coral bleaching and conservation strategies to safeguard coral reef ecosystems.