Unraveling the Fungal Community Dynamics in Heat-Tolerant Coral <i>Turbinaria</i> sp. During Bleaching in South China Sea.

ABSTRACT: Coral bleaching is a multifactorial stress response in which the breakdown of symbiosis with algal and bacterial partners has been well characterized, but the role of fungal communities remains largely unexplored. Here, we tracked the temporal dynamics of coral-associated fungi in Turbinaria sp. across three defined bleaching stages under natural thermal stress. In total, 161 genera from six phyla were detected. From the unbleached to partly bleached stage, fungal Simpson diversity declined, whereas observed richness slightly increased; putative pathogenic genera (e.g., Apiotrichum, Curvularia, Exserohilum, and Schizophyllum) rose sharply (39.44%→69.04%), whereas parasitic fungi decreased (33.01%→11.72%). From the partly to fully bleached stage, diversity

SUBMITTER: Chen X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12733531 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature