Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease

An investigation of the effectiveness of probiotic strain Pseudoalteromonas sp. McH1-7, isolated from a healthy Montastraea cavernosa colony, at stopping and preventing stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has been conducted since 2019. Ex situ evidence has suggested McH1-7 may be an effective tool for stopping SCTLD. Additionally, methods for utilizing probiotic bacteria in the field have been developed and are showing success in early field tests. This report summarizes project tasks 1 through 3 which aim to: (1) test methods for effective distribution of probiotics to mitigation teams and in situ deployment, (2) identify additional potential probiotics and test multi-strain probiotic treatments, and (3) develop and test diagnostic tools to complement probiotic treatments.