reviewTrends in MicrobiologyApr 11, 2015HYBRID OA

Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

University of Bremen · Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research · +3 more institutions

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Abstract

•Nitrogen cycling in reef-building corals is a function of all holobiont members.•Control of nitrogen cycling may stabilize holobiont functioning under oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions.•Anthropogenic change may sway the control of nitrogen cycling, promoting coral decline.•Elevated nitrogen fixation rates may foster coral bleaching and disease. Corals are animals that form close mutualistic associations with endosymbiotic photosynthetic algae of the genus Symbiodinium. Together they provide the calcium carbonate framework of coral reef ecosystems. The importance of the microbiome (i.e., bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses) to holobiont functioning has only recently been recognized. Given that growth and…

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