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Browsing Biotechnology by Subject "Acropora corals."
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Item Assessing the antimicrobial, anti-quorum sensing and anti-biofilm potential of bacteria isolated from pocillopora and acropora corals.(2021) Buswana, Olona.; Chenia, Hafizah Yousuf.; Pearton, David.Coral bleaching, primarily caused by the rise in seawater temperature, is a major threat to the survival and functionality of coral reef ecosystems in the marine environment. The application of probiotics to corals, particularly bacteria, may be a possible solution to test whether the effects of coral bleaching can be reversed to improve coral health. The present study assessed the anti-biofilm and anti-quorum sensing potential of bacteria isolated from Pocillopora and Acropora corals. Intertidal zone corals were collected along the KwaZulu-Natal coast and bacteria were isolated. A total of 210 and 132 bacterial isolates were biobanked from Acropora and Pocillopora spp., respectively. Preliminary characterization of isolated bacteria was carried out, i.e., colony characterization, Gram reaction and cellular morphology. Primary antimicrobial screening was carried against indicator organisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using the colony drop assay, as well as quorum sensing inhibition screening using Chromobacterium violaceum, Chromobacterium subtsugae and Vibrio harveyi. Based on preliminary data, 16 Pocillopora- and 24 Acroporaassociated bacteria were selected for further investigation. Antimicrobial potential of extracts against P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, Shewanella putrefaciens, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio coralliilyticus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio shilonii were carried out, with Pocilloporaassociated bacterial extracts inhibiting 6.25% (1/16) of clinical indicators and 43.75% (7/16) of marine indicators, while 20.83% (5/24) and 25% (6/24) of Acropora-associated bacterial extracts inhibited clinical and marine indicators, respectively. Qualitative and quantitative antiquorum sensing activity were also assessed against C. violaceum and C. subtsugae using an agar overlay and quantitative assays where 93.75% (15/16) and 100% of Pocilloporaassociated bacterial extracts and 25% (6/24) and 29.16% (7/24) of Acropora-associated bacterial extracts showed activity against C. violaceum and C. subtsugae, respectively. Using the qualitative autoinducer-2 agar overlay inhibition assay with Vibrio harveyi, 68.75% (11/16) and 25% (6/24) of Pocillopora-associated and Acropora-associated bacterial extracts demonstrated autoinducer-2 inhibition, respectively. Biofilm inhibition was assessed against P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, S. aureus ATCC 43300, S. putrefaciens ATCC 8071, V. coralliilyticus ATCC_BAA 450, V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 17802 and V. shilonii ATCC_BAA 91 with selected extracts demonstrating inhibitory potential against initial adhesion and/or mature biofilm reduction. Coral-associated bacteria have demonstrated antimicrobial and/or anti-virulence properties and could be an important source of novel antimicrobial, anti-QS and anti-biofilm compounds, with potential coral probiotic application to overcome coral bleaching.