Microbiome restructuring: dominant coral bacterium Endozoicomonas species display differential adaptive capabilities to environmental changes

Abstract

Bacteria in the coral microbiome play a crucial role in determining coral health and fitness, and the coral host often restructures its microbiome composition in response to external factors. An important but often neglected factor determining this microbiome restructuring is the capacity of microbiome members to adapt to a new environment. To address this issue, we examined how the microbiome structure of Acropora muricata corals changed over 9 months following a reciprocal transplant experiment. Using a combination of metabarcoding, genomics, and comparative genomics approaches, we found that coral colonies separated by a small distance harbored different dominant Endozoicomonas related phylotypes belonging to two different species, including a novel species, Candidatus Endozoicomonas penghunesis 4G, whose chromosome level (complete) genome was also sequenced in this study. Furthermore, the two dominant Endozoicomonas species showed varied adaptation capabilities when coral colonies were transplanted in a new environment. The differential adaptation capabilities of dominant members of the microbiome can a) provide distinct advantages to coral hosts when subjected to changing environmental conditions and b) have positive implications for future reefs.