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Abstract
Metagenomic and electron microscopy studies confirm that the coral microbiome contains
a rich diversity and abundance of viruses. While there have been no definitive tests
of disease causation by viruses in corals, viruses have been implicated as coral pathogens
in a number of studies. Growing evidence also indicates that latent viral infections
can compromise the algal symbionts under environmental stress and may be involved
in the coral bleaching response. Conversely, bacteriophages and archaeal phage viruses
are abundant in the microbiome of healthy corals and are likely to be involved in
complex ecological networks, genetic material transfer and selective co-evolution
within the surface mucus layers and tissues. The relative importance of viral control
of bacterial and archaeal populations is unknown, but they are almost certain to be
exerting some level of control on the composition and maintenance of the coral microbiome.
While rapid leaps in the capability to detect viruses have been made due to advances
in metagenomics and bioinformatics, these approaches need now to be integrated with
in vitro culture and challenge experiments to assess the functional roles of viruses
in health and disease, and it is imperative that interactions with other members of
the coral microbiome are taken into account when assessing disease causation.