The Laboratory of Professor Steven W Wilhelm, PhD, FRSC
Research in the Wilhelm Lab focuses on the interaction of microbial communities with the environment. Scientists at all levels work to resolved the synergies between microbial communities and biogeochemical cycles in oceans and large lakes. Lab members use biomolecular tools – including DNA and RNA sequencing, metabolomics, and mathematical models – to study viruses, bacteria, cyanobacteria and algae. Presently the lab has a specific focus on virus ecology, toxic cyanobacterial blooms and the development of quantitative molecular tools and models for microbial ecology.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Chang X, HJ MacIsaac, I Chorus, GS Bullerjahn, R Kurmayer, CY Ahn, Xi Kong, SW Wilhelm, SA Wood, X Tang, HW Paerl, S Hilt, E Jeppesen, DP Hamilton, S-i Nakano, P Visser, J Huisman, H Wang, L Song, RM McKay, B Qin, L Sitoki, R Xu. 2026. Scanning the horizon for harmful cyanobacterial blooms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2026.04.012
Hambrick KM, LE Smith, RM Martin, B Wei, R Dey, GL Boyer, JS Weitz, D Talmy, SW Wilhelm and ER Zinser. 2026. Acclimation temperature influences phage susceptibility in a toxin-producing strain of Microcystis aeruginosa. Microbiology Spectrum. doi:10.1128/spectrum.03379-25
Duan Z, W Gao, X Kong, HJ MacIsaac, E Jeppesen, S Hilt, DP. Hamilton, SW Wilhelm, RM McKay, Y Zhang, B Qin, Y Liu, H Wang, M Pan, T Xia, F Wu, HW Paerl, X Chang. 2026. Restoration of eutrophic lakes needs to target multi-dimensional drivers. Environmental Science & Technology 60 (4), 3170-3185 doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c11422.
Mason AR, LS Taylor, NE Gilbert, SW Wilhelm and JM DeBruyn. 2026. Gene expression over one year of human decomposition. FEMS Microbiology Ecology fiaf126, doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf126.
Zepernick BN, DJ Niknejad, EE Chase, BA Abiodun, MJ Adler, KA Houghton, JL Olavesen, Q Sarumi, AR Truchon, JL Walton, JH Cheshire, K Stanislawczyk, LN Hart, HW Paerl, JD Chaffin, GL Boyer, HF Castro, SR Campagna, GS Bullerjahn, SW Wilhelm. 2026. The ornithine-arginine cycle supported a toxic, metalimnic Planktothrix rubescens bloom. Harmful Algae, doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2025.103008.
Gilbert NE, D Muratore, C Shopen Gochev, GR LeCleir, SM Cagle, HL Pound, CL Sun, A Carrillo, KS Ndlovu, I Maidanik, A Coenen, L Chittick, JM DeBruyn, A Buchan, D Lindell, MB Sullivan, JS Weitz, and SW Wilhelm. 2026. Seasonal enhancement of the viral shunt catalyzes a subsurface oxygen maximum in the Sargasso Sea. Nature Communications 17:352 doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67002-1.
Truchon AR, ER Zinser and SW Wilhelm. 2025. Epigenome analysis of an algae-infecting giant virus reveals a unique methylation motif catalogue. 2025. PLoS ONE doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0330887
Huang X, EE Chase, BN Zepernick, RM Martin, LE Krausfeldt, HL Pound, H Wu, Z Zheng, SW Wilhelm. 2025. Contrasting viral infection strategies for single cell and colonial Microcystis populations consistent with Black Queen dynamics. The ISME Journal doi:10.1093/ismejo/wraf244
Stark GF, LE Smith, AR Truchon, RM Martin, ER Denison and SW Wilhelm. 2025. Microcystis plasmids: the unexplored portion of the mobilome and the presence of potential phage-like plasmids. ISME Communications doi: 10.1093/ismeco/ycaf154.
Muratore DJ, NE Gilbert, GR LeCleir, SW Wilhelm, and JS Weitz. 2025. Diel partitioning in microbial phosphorus acquisition in the Sargasso Sea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122:e2410268122 doi:10.1073/pnas.2410268122.
For a full list of publications see Professor Wilhelm’s Google Scholar or ORCID pages.
The Aquatic Microbial Ecology Research Group
Professor Steven W Wilhelm, Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN. 37996
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