Microbiome flexibility of Pocillopora verrucosa and Acropora hemprichii from the Red Sea

The potential for restructuring of bacterial communities across coral species, i.e. the flexibility to associate with different bacteria in different environments, has not been systematically investigated. Here we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to study bacterial community dynamics in the corals Acropora hemprichii and Pocillopora verrucosa. Colony fragments of both corals were back- and cross-transplanted for 21 months between five sites with differing levels of anthropogenic impact, mostly from land-based sources of pollution in the Red Sea.