William L King, PhD
Lecturer/Asst. Prof
University of Southampton
I'm a microbiologist with expertise in terrestrial and marine systems. I combine bench microbiology and molecular biology with high-throughput sequencing techniques to answer questions in microbial ecology. I am interested in understanding: (i) how microbial interactions (biotic constraints) can shape microbial functions, (ii) how we can use these interactions to manipulate feedback loops with hosts, and (iii) how plants can rapidly adapt to changing conditions through exudation and microbial-associations.
Broad research interests
Root microbes: What are the mechanisms driving microbial colonization of different root microbiome compartments?
Drought-stress: How can we use drought-adapted microbes to improve plant fitness under drought stress
Soil microbes: How can we leverage the microbial seed bank to to augment or replenish soil functions of interest and improve soil health
Community manipulations: How do microbial interactions influence microbial functions and host-microbe feedback
Select publications
King et al. Functionally discrete fine roots differ in microbial assembly, microbial functional potential, and produced metabolites. Plant, Cell and Environment (2023)
King et al. Leveraging microbiome rediversification for the ecological rescue of soil function. Environmental Microbiome (2023)
King et al. The hierarchy of root branching order determines bacterial composition, microbial carrying capacity and microbial filtering. Communications Biology (2021)
King et al. Soil salinization accelerates microbiome stabilization in iterative selections for plant performance. New Phytologist (2021)
King et al. Farm-scale differentiation of active microbial colonizers. ISME Communications (2022)
King and Bell. Can dispersal be leveraged to improve microbial inoculant success? Trends in Biotechnology (2022)