In situ devices can culture the microbial dark matter of corals.

ABSTRACT: Most microorganisms found in environmental samples have never been cultured and can often only be explored through molecular or microscopic approaches. Here, we adapt the use of in situ diffusion-based devices to culture "yet-to-be-cultured" microorganisms associated with coral mucus and compare this with a traditional culturing method. The culturability of microorganisms associated with mucus of the coral Pocillopora damicornis increased by 420% and 570% with diffusion growth chambers and microwell chip devices, respectively, compared with the traditional method tested. The obtained cultures represent up to 64.4% of the total diversity of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) found in the mucus of the coral P. damicornis. In addition, some previously uncultured microorgan

SUBMITTER: Modolon F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10755713 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature