Microbiology of juvenile porites asteoides in the Florida Keys : interim report.

Abstract

These were a series of experiments to determine: 1) the composition of bacterial communities in P. astreoides juveniles in post-settlement developmental stages; 2) whether the bacterial communities associated with coral recruits reflect what is in the surrounding seawater; and 3) which strains of very diverse panel of specific bacterial isolates influence P. astreoides larval settlement. The underlying aim of this series of studies is to determine how juvenile corals interact with seawater microbes in their earliest life stages – while establishing their bacterial communities.