Coral-killing army recruits human bugs

Ben Harder

From Boston, at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

Coral reefs around the globe are plagued by black-band disease. The telltale black or red mat of bacteria that infects and kills corals is the work of a multitude of pathogens (SN: 4/11/98, p. 229: http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/4_11_98/fob1.htm). Now, research on reefs off the Caribbean island of Curaçao shows that the lethal legions enlist some bacteria that come from people.

On Curaçao's southern coast, industrial runoff and urban sewage from the seaport of St. Annabaai empty into a steady offshore current. Bruce W. Fouke and his colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sampled two tracts of reef near St. Annabaai. One is clear of the stream of effluent; the other is directly in its path. The researchers documented higher rates of black-band disease along the second reef.

Fouke's team then used genetic analyses to identify the bacteria living in and around the corals. They found about 50 species associated with black-band disease, including several previously known only in people. How the people-infecting bacteria promote coral disease remains unclear, says Fouke.

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References:

Frias-Lopez, J.,…and B.W. Fouke. 2001. Partitioning of bacterial communities between seawater and healthy, black band diseased, and dead coral surfaces. Meeting of the Geological Society of America. November 4–8. Boston.

Further Readings:

Milius, S. 1998. Bacteria cause plague in coral reef. Science News 153(April 11):229. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/4_11_98/fob1.htm.

Sources:

Bruce W. Fouke
Department of Geology
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
1301 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801

From Science News, Volume 160, No. 21, November 24, 2001, p. 332.