The contribution of microbial biotechnology to mitigating coral reef degradation

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Abstract

The decline of coral reefs due to anthropogenic disturbances is having devastating impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here we highlight the potential and challenges of microbial manipulation strategies to enhance coral tolerance to stress and contribute to coral reef restoration and protection.

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Probiotic bacteria as biological control agents in aquaculture.

L Verschuere, G Rombaut, P Sorgeloos … (2000)

There is an urgent need in aquaculture to develop microbial control strategies, since disease outbreaks are recognized as important constraints to aquaculture production and trade and since the development of antibiotic resistance has become a matter of growing concern. One of the alternatives to antimicrobials in disease control could be the use of probiotic bacteria as microbial control agents. This review describes the state of the art of probiotic research in the culture of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and live food, with an evaluation of the results obtained so far. A new definition of probiotics, also applicable to aquatic environments, is proposed, and a detailed description is given of their possible modes of action, i.e., production of compounds that are inhibitory toward pathogens, competition with harmful microorganisms for nutrients and energy, competition with deleterious species for adhesion sites, enhancement of the immune response of the animal, improvement of water quality, and interaction with phytoplankton. A rationale is proposed for the multistep and multidisciplinary process required for the development of effective and safe probiotics for commercial application in aquaculture. Finally, directions for further research are discussed.

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The contribution of species richness and composition to bacterial services.

Jonathan A. Newman, Bernard Silverman, Sarah Turner … (2005)

Bacterial communities provide important services. They break down pollutants, municipal waste and ingested food, and they are the primary means by which organic matter is recycled to plants and other autotrophs. However, the processes that determine the rate at which these services are supplied are only starting to be identified. Biodiversity influences the way in which ecosystems function, but the form of the relationship between bacterial biodiversity and functioning remains poorly understood. Here we describe a manipulative experiment that measured how biodiversity affects the functioning of communities containing up to 72 bacterial species constructed from a collection of naturally occurring culturable bacteria. The experimental design allowed us to manipulate large numbers of bacterial species selected at random from those that were culturable. We demonstrate that there is a decelerating relationship between community respiration and increasing bacterial diversity. We also show that both synergistic interactions among bacterial species and the composition of the bacterial community are important in determining the level of ecosystem functioning.

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Fecal microbiota transplantation and emerging applications.

Thomas J. Borody, Alexander Khoruts (2012)

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been utilized sporadically for over 50 years. In the past few years, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) epidemics in the USA and Europe have resulted in the increased use of FMT, given its high efficacy in eradicating CDI and associated symptoms. As more patients request treatment and more clinics incorporate FMT into their treatment repertoire, reports of applications outside of CDI are emerging, paving the way for the use of FMT in several idiopathic conditions. Interest in this therapy has largely been driven by new research into the gut microbiota, which is now beginning to be appreciated as a microbial human organ with important roles in immunity and energy metabolism. This new paradigm raises the possibility that many diseases result, at least partially, from microbiota-related dysfunction. This understanding invites the investigation of FMT for several disorders, including IBD, IBS, the metabolic syndrome, neurodevelopmental disorders, autoimmune diseases and allergic diseases, among others. The field of microbiota-related disorders is currently in its infancy; it certainly is an exciting time in the burgeoning science of FMT and we expect to see new and previously unexpected applications in the near future. Well-designed and well-executed randomized trials are now needed to further define these microbiota-related conditions.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Katarina Damjanovic: kdamjanovic@student.unimelb.edu.au

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Microb Biotechnol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Microb Biotechnol

Journal ID (doi): 10.1111/(ISSN)1751-7915

Journal ID (publisher-id): MBT2

Title: Microbial Biotechnology

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )

ISSN (Electronic): 1751-7915

Publication date (Electronic): 11 July 2017

Publication date Collection: September 2017

Volume: 10

Issue: 5 , The contribution of microbial biotechnology to sustainable development goals ( doiID: 10.1111/mbt2.2017.10.issue-5 )

Pages: 1236-1243

Affiliations

[ ¹ ] School of BioSciences The University of Melbourne Parkville Vic. 3010 Australia

[ ² ] Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No 3 Townsville MC 4810 Qld Australia

[ ³ ] Australian Centre for Ecogenomics The University of Queensland Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia

Author notes

[*] [* ]For correspondenec. E‐mail kdamjanovic@ 123456student.unimelb.edu.au ; Tel. (07) 4753 4373.

Article

Publisher ID: MBT212769

DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.12769

PMC ID: 5609283

PubMed ID: 28696067

SO-VID: 052f5ed0-a18f-49a6-8d00-7e3b5d8214ed

License:

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 13 June 2017

Date accepted : 13 June 2017

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 0, Pages: 8, Words: 5684

Funding

Funded by: Australian Research Council

Award ID: DP160101468

Funded by: Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

Funded by: University of Melbourne

Funded by: Australian Research Council Future Fellowship

Award ID: FT120100480

Custom metadata

source-schema-version-number 2.0

component-id mbt212769

cover-date September 2017

details-of-publishers-convertor Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_NLMPMC version:5.2.0 mode:remove_FC converted:22.09.2017

The contribution of microbial biotechnology to mitigating coral reef degradation

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Abstract

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Genome Engineering using CRISPR

Most cited references 60

Probiotic bacteria as biological control agents in aquaculture.

The contribution of species richness and composition to bacterial services.

Fecal microbiota transplantation and emerging applications.

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