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Probiotic and postbiotic treatment in situ during a marine heat wave improves coral health and promotes specific metabolic and microbiome changes

Santoro, E. P.; Raimundo, I.; Beenham, L.; Garcias-Bonet, N.; Garcia, F. C.; Schultz, J.; Curdia, J.; Antony, C. P.; Delgadillo-Ordonez, N.; Singh, U.; Rosado, A. S.; Jaremko, M.; Jaremko, L.; Peixoto, R. S.

2025-10-09 microbiology
10.1101/2025.10.09.679041 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Microbial therapies are emerging as promising tools for coral protection against heat stress, yet such application was not tested in situ. We tested two coral-derived probiotic consortia and their heat-killed counterparts (postbiotics) on bleaching Acropora cf. valida in the Red Sea during a marine heatwave. Over 15 days, both live and one of the heat-killed treatments maintained photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), whereas placebo-treated corals exhibited significant thermal stress-induced decline. 16S rRNA gene sequencing profiling showed enrichment of putatively beneficial genera (e.g., Terasakiispira spp., Pseudoalteromonas spp.), and untargeted metabolomics resolved treatment-specific metabolic signatures that differed among consortia and between live and inactivated formulations. These molecular fingerprints illuminate specific underlying protective mechanisms and host-microbiome interactions under heat stress. Together, our results position microbial therapies (probiotics and specific postbiotics) as field-validated, mechanism-informed interventions capable of minimizing impacts on corals during real-world thermal extremes and provide design cues for scalable deployment.

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