Sunday, November 25, 2018

Microbiomes in Fish Help them Adapt

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181120125843.htm
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/microbiome/
 
As the world slowly increases in temperature, stabile oceans which have specific temperatures also start to rise. This gives way to melting of the glaciers and increasing water levels while increasing temperature. This problem affects corals, fish, marine life and essentially, all life. However, researchers have found that many of the fish have small bacteria lining their innards and guts that coexist with the fish. They work in tandem to help the organism adapt to rising temperatures in the ocean rapidly. This was tested in the lab by using around 80 fish with modified microbiomes to check whether they were stressed or died under extreme temperatures. This breakthrough could mean that fish are evolving or are readily adapting to the changing environment.


2 comments:

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  2. Certainly an interesting topic, I wonder if the bacteria present in the fish have any correlation to the thermophilic bacteria found in the Yellowstone geysers. Another extension of this research could be to analyze the effect these bacteria would have if they were introduced to species whose numbers are decreasing due to the effects of climate change.

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