Probiotic and postbiotic treatment improves coral health and promotes specific metabolic and microbiome changes in situ during a heatwave
4 affiliations
- 1Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: [email protected]
- 2Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- 3Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia; Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
- 4Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: [email protected]
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 suggest potential underlying protective mechanisms and host-microbiome interactions under heat stress. Together, our results position microbial therapies (probiotics and specific postbiotics) as field-validated interventions capable of minimizing impacts on corals during real-world thermal extremes and provide design cues for further development and deployment.
Related
- A lactobacilli-based probiotic but not its postbiotic reduces intestinal inflammatory pathways expression in broilers fed a non-starch polysaccharide rich challenge diet
- A Paired Ileum-Caecum Study of the Goose Gut Microbiome in Response to Fattening Protocol and Postbiotic Supplementation.
- Bacillus probiotic blend modulates ileal microbiome to improve growth performance and prevent necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens
- From Microbiome Associations to Deployable Precision Probiotics in Animals: A Critical Narrative Review and Proposed Causal Evidence Framework for Next-Generation Probiotic Development
- Probiotic E. coli treatment mediates antimicrobial human β-defensin synthesis and fecal excretion in humans
BibTeX
@article{santoro2026probiotic,
title = {{Probiotic and postbiotic treatment improves coral health and promotes specific metabolic and microbiome changes in situ during a heatwave}},
author = {Érika P. Santoro and Inês Raimundo and Laura Beenham and Neus Garcías-Bonet and Francisca C García and Júnia Schultz and João Cúrdia and Chakkiath Paul Antony and Nathalia Delgadillo‐Ordoñez and Upendra Singh and Alexandre Soares Rosado and Mariusz Jaremko and Łukasz Jaremko and Raquel Silva Peixoto},
journal = {Cell Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117839},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117839},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Probiotic and postbiotic treatment improves coral health and promotes specific metabolic and microbiome changes in situ during a heatwave
AU - Érika P. Santoro
AU - Inês Raimundo
AU - Laura Beenham
AU - Neus Garcías-Bonet
AU - Francisca C García
AU - Júnia Schultz
AU - João Cúrdia
AU - Chakkiath Paul Antony
AU - Nathalia Delgadillo‐Ordoñez
AU - Upendra Singh
AU - Alexandre Soares Rosado
AU - Mariusz Jaremko
AU - Łukasz Jaremko
AU - Raquel Silva Peixoto
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Cell Reports
DO - 10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117839
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117839
AB - 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 suggest potential underlying protective mechanisms and host-microbiome interactions under heat stress. Together, our results position microbial therapies (probiotics and specific postbiotics) as field-validated interventions capable of minimizing impacts on corals during real-world thermal extremes and provide design cues for further development and deployment.
SN - 2211-1247
SN - 2639-1856
ER -