MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of bacteria from Acropora cervicornis samples with White Band Disease

White Band Disease (WBD) is one of the most harmful coral syndromes in the Caribbean, de t eri ora tin g t he structure of many corals during the eighties and nineties.Since its e tiology is not entirely known, the use of techniques aimed at ide ntifying the associated agents could provide an approach to the composition of the populations involved in the deterioration of A. cervicornis.Therefore, this research's objective was to isolate and characterize bacteria associated with WBD in A. cervicornis from hanging nurseries of Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park, Colombia, using MALDI-TO F MS and PCR.The re sults showed the presence of Bacillus cereus bacteria in individuals with bleaching signs from nurseries and transplant are as on Isla Tesoro and Isla Ceiner.O ne of these strains se quenced and phylogenetically analyzed was closely related to Bacillus thuringiensis, with similarities of up to 99%.The presence of B. cereus could indicate a special relationship be tween this microorganism and WBD.However, it is imperative to carry out more studies on identifying the bacteria a ss ocia ted wi t h t h is dise ase to support these findings.