Mycobacteria isolated from temperate stony corals

In marine environment, actinobacteria are widely distributed in water and sediments, and form symbiotic relationships with higher organisms. In this study, we isolated 49 actinobacterial strains from three temperate stony corals <i>, Pocillopora damicornis</i> , <i>Acropora hyacinthus</i> and <i>Acropora muricata</i> . More than 60% of obtained actinobacterial isolates belonged to mycolic acid-containing genera, particularly members of the family <i>Mycobacteriaceae</i> . Our results combined with the previous studies demonstrated that these actinobacteria are frequently associated with coral hosts worldwide.