The Williamson Lab

Virus Ecology

Welcome to the Williamson Lab, housed in the Biology Department at The College of William & Mary. My research focus is on the ecology of viruses in freshwater and soil environments. Viruses have significant impacts within microbial communities through bacterial mortality and horizontal gene transfer. By killing bacteria, viruses can change the rates of different nutrient transformations - not to mention the fact that viral lysate (the stuff left behind from bacteria that have ruptured due to a viral infection) is a rich nutrient source for surviving bacteria. Through transduction, abortive infections, and lysogeny, viruses are capable of quickly introducing novel gene sets into bacterial genomes, ultimately driving host evolution. For more information on what we do and why it's important, please check out the "Background" and "Research" links at the top of the page. Student research drives progress in my lab group. Interested undergraduate and graduate students should contact me directly about research opportunities.

E-mail: kewilliamson (at) wm (dot) edu

Office Telephone: (757) 221-224