Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest health challenges of our time, becoming a leading cause of death globally. Pollution and climate change can cause harmful microbes to become more competitive and resistant to AMR, a drastic outcome for the health of more than just sharks in our oceans. Global climate change research involving elasmobranchs only focuses on physiological effects, disregarding the microbes, a rapidly evolving component that alters host health. To have a broader comparison of elasmobranch-associated microbes within Australia, microbes associated with the Port Jackson Shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni (extracted in SA) and the Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus (extracted in Exmouth) will be used to assess how the microbiome is disrupted with global climate change in both tropical and temperate regions.
Elasmobranch microbiomes are species-specific and follow phylosymbiosis. A comparison of 37 R.typus and 62 H.portusjacksoni isolates aims to investigate if associated microbes display similar patterns in response to heat stressors in respective locations. Understanding alteration of the microbiome functions impacting health, behaviour, or disease resistance is vital research that can be applied to other marine organisms aiding in mitigating disease risks.