Thread by @hannahgreich

. @eslam_16884 shares his PhD research on the #microbiomes of heat resistant #RedSea #corals with @PSUmBiome!

. @eslam_16884 overviews rich history of bleaching monitoring on the GBR. Meanwhile, coral surveys in the #RedSea....... are starting to gain momentum!

The extreme environments of the #RedSes leverages a neat study system to investigate why “Red sea corals like it hot” 🤒

Shoutouts to former work by @Fine_Coral_Lab & @JessBellworthy

Historical, experimental, & contemporary approaches were taken to determine. First lots of crunching SST data from the past few decades to describe thermal history of #RedSea #corals

Some regions of the #RedSea experience water temperature regimes that *should* have induced mass-bleaching events.

Experimental work found that the northern #RedSea #corals (frequently exposed to high temp regimes) weren’t phased by high temperatures. Their counterparts with cooler thermal histories weren’t as happy in the hot water 🥵 🚿

Scaling this up: @eslam_16884 emphasizes extreme heat tolerance of normal #RedSea #corals may enable this region to serve as a refugia.

Next @eslam_16884 looks to understand the mechanisms that may elevate these corals to “super coral” status.

THIS IS THE BEST SYMBIONT/MICROBIAL COMMUNITY SHUFFLING ANALOGY I HAVE EVER HEARD!

Is a partner not giving you what you need? Get rid of it! #RelationshipAdviceFromDrEslam

. @eslam_16884 uses #genetics to determine whether northern Red Sea corals are shuffling #Symbiodiniaceae and microbiomes to acclimate to heat stress 🐪 🐫

#Symbiodiniaceae ITS2 DGGE reveals host coral specificity is the most dominant pattern throughout regions of the Red Sea with thermally tolerant/sensitive corals. No zonation by depth either.

Finer scale markers may reveal more differentiation between symbionts. Might also be phenotypic adaptation to did envi.

. @eslam_16884 also used 16S microbial analysis to study the #microbiome of the same corals. Site was the most prominent driver of microbial community.

Found #Erythrobacter was in highest abundance in high temperature areas. Could help corals survive continuously harsh environments via potential provisioning of bacterial chlorophyll a & carotenoids to host. Needs to be functionally validated! 🤓

You can read corresponding paper (next one coming out soon)!! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…