Vertical Transmission

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most important issues faced by our planet. As scientists, we seek to understand and find ways to prevent, and perhaps reverse, its effects. Although the impacts of climate change on the environment and extinction of animal and plant life are well studied, the consequences of climate change on microbes are largely unknown. We now understand that microbes underpin a healthy global ecosystem and that disruptions to microbial diversity often have devastating repercussions on the affected ecological niche. Indeed, changes in microbial diversity induced by climate change may therefore have important downstream consequences on the resilience of such ecosystems and their ability to withstand climate change.