Fig. 4
From: Evidence for microbially-mediated tradeoffs between growth and defense throughout coral evolution
Endozoicomonas dominance facilitates life history tradeoffs. Conceptual hypothesis on the role Endozoicomonas dominance in coral microbiomes (teal icons, top row) plays in the tradeoff between growth and defense under varying environmental conditions. Endozoicomonas-dominated microbiomes may (A) provide a metabolic advantage for growth under normal environmental conditions (top left), but (B) lack the ecological, structural or immunological defenses against pathogen invasion, and therefore become susceptible to disease under stressful environmental conditions (top right). In contrast, microbiomes not dominated by Endozoicomonas (bottom left) grow slower, but may have lower disease susceptibility in stressful environmental conditions (bottom right)