Epigenetics, genetic mutation and carbon cycle effect on climate.

In the article Marine microbes:Small but might at capturing carbon by Devi Lockwood, researchers are attempting to better understand the mechanism and timescale of marine microbe evolution. The question: where do shifts in microbial dynamics feedback on climate dynamics? We know tiny shifts in the environment of these microbes can cause genetic mutations or epigenetic changes. What this group of researchers attempted to do was understand more fully the timescale of these types of changes. What they found was that the initial variability in fitness for a new environment is driven by epigenetic change, which is heritable but also reversible. Not only are epigenetics a result of the intital variability but also a result of frequent environmental fluctuations. In contrast, a sweep result induces genetic mutations which fix the microbial population. This phenomena was observed when organisms were introduced to new environments at longer interval lengths.

Why is this relevant? Well small changes in the types of organisms that populate the surface of the ocean can be magnified and impact the whole marine food chain. Additionally, these microbes drive marine carbon cycling which regulates the climate in respect to how much CO2 is dissolved in the planets oceans. Developing a better understanding of the timeline associated with these genetic changes can help us avoid catastrophe in our marine ecosystem as well as our climate.

-Maya