Development of physical and sequence bacteria enrichment methods for the detection of species and strain-level variations in SCTLD-associated bacteria

This project aimed to identify bacteria associated with SCTLD to a lower taxonomic level than what was previously achieved. The research team tested two techniques inspired by human medicine to separate the bacteria residing within the coral, from the coral itself. Because bacteria make up such a small part of the overall coral holobiont, identifying potential pathogenic bacteria has been similar to finding a needle in a haystack. s. For both methodologies tested, sufficient genetic material was unable to be produced to identify bacteria to a species level.  While a specific bacterium was unable to be identified, this research helped grow our understanding of when different methodologies can be used when examining the coral microbiome.