A research team led by Dr. Sen-Lin Tang at Biodiversity Research Center in cooperation with three domestic universities discovered a bacterium: Endozoicomonas acroporae, which is commonly found in healthy corals can metabolize the climate-cooling gas precursor, Dimethylsulfoniopropionate and produce the climate-cooling gas, Dimethylsulfide. This study provides groundbreaking evidence for the ecological role of E. acroporae in their coral host.

The results have been published in the journal, The ISME Journal, on February 13, 2020.