Great Barrier Reef microbiome mapped reveals hundreds of thousands of viruses and hundreds of new bacteria
Researchers mapped the Great Barrier Reef microbiome by sequencing seawater DNA from 48 reefs, uncovering more than 360,000 distinct viruses and 808,585 viral genomes across about 362,802 viruses, plus 5,283 bacterial/archaeal genomes representing 876 species (584 newly documented). Published in Nature, the work suggests reef microbes underpin the ecosystem and could serve as early indicators of health and stress from climate change, bleaching, and pollution, enabling monitoring through microbial signatures with long‑read sequencing.