Saudi ArabiaProbiotic-treated corals kept their color through a 2022 heat wave.
It is the first sign probiotics protect corals on a real reef, not in tanks.
Researchers dosed corals 8 times in 15 days with bacteria isolated from healthy local coral, and treated colonies kept photosynthetic efficiency.
Such technologies are “short-term band-aids,” said Andrea Grottoli of Ohio State University, who was not involved.
Raquel Peixoto’s team tested one coral species and does not know how long its alginate beads keep bacteria alive.
How each outlet framed it
- Mongabay leans favorable
- documents probiotics treatment preventing coral bleaching during 2022 Red Sea heat wave at 15-km offshore Saudi reef
Sources: Mongabay