Adele Williamson

Adele Williamson is a New Zealand biochemist who studies DNA repair systems in bacteria that inhabit extreme environments.^[1] Her research has applications in both biotechnology and medicine.^[1] She has travelled widely, including to Norway and Antarctica, to conduct her research and uses a variety of biochemical and bioinformatic methods to study the collected enzymes.^[2] She is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Waikato.^[1]

From 2000 to 2004, Williamson studied at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, where she earned her Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree.^[3] She went on to undertake doctoral research at the Australian National University from 2004 to 2008,^[4] when she graduated with her PhD.^[4] She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship from January 2009 to March 2010 at Umeå Plant Science Centre in Sweden.^[2][5]

After her postdoctoral work at Umeå, Williamson began working as a research scientist at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in 2010, and was promoted to project leader in 2015.^[6][3] In 2019 she returned to New Zealand to work at the University of Waikato. She spent her first two years there working as a research fellow and principal investigator,^[1] before being appointed a senior lecturer in the Biomedical, and Molecular and Cellular Biology Departments.^[1]

While conducting research at various universities, Williamson has become a member of various societies. Most recently, she joined the Society of Crystallographers in Australia and New Zealand (SCANZ).^[2] In 2022, Williamson joined the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists where she works as a mentor to aspiring scientists.^[2][7] In 2021, she was admitted into the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, which consists of established scientists in New Zealand whose research targets serious human diseases.^[2][8][9] Williamson has been a member of the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2020.^[2]

Williamson's research focuses on bacteria known as extremophiles, organisms that survive in environmental extremes such as high pressures and temperatures.^[10] These organisms are of interest because they produce enzymes called extremozymes, which are functional under extreme conditions and are applicable in many different fields,^[11] including biotechnology and medicine. In biotechnology, extremozymes are essential for diagnostic tests such as PCR.^[2] Also, knowledge of these enzymes can help gain insight on how they help pathogens resist treatment in various diseases.^[2] The objectives of Williamson's research include:

1. To explore the fundamental biochemistry of survival under extreme conditions and understand what diverse mechanisms microbes have evolved to achieve this.^[1]
2. To explore the biotechnological potential of enzymes from extremophiles with a focus on novel molecular biology tools.^[1]

In 2019, Williamson was awarded the Marsden Fast-Start grant to investigate the DNA repair systems of various microbes living in Antarctica.^[5][12] The Dry Valleys of Antarctica were chosen because its environment subjects the DNA to multiple stressors including high ultraviolet light and multiple freeze-thaw cycles.^[13] During this research, Williamson and her team sequenced metagenomes from 30 sites across the Dry Valleys.^[13] The sequences from these samples were then analysed and compared to known databases.^[13] The research showed that although a large number of the genes present in these enzymes were already known, there were a select few that were either unique to the environment or were not represented in the database.^[13]

In 2020, Williamson was awarded the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship for her research titled "In extremis: how bacteria replicate, repair and diversify their genomes in challenging environments".^[5] One of the bacterial systems Williamson and her team focused on during this research was the Prochlorococcus marinus.^[14] This group of cyanobacteria are the most abundant photosynthetic organism in the world.^[14] There are two ecotypes of P. marinus: those found in the upper ocean where the environment is UV-damaging and nutrient poor are considered high-light; and the low-light P. marinus, which have access to more nutrients and are subjected to less UV radiation.^[12] To conduct this research, the genomes from P. marinus were downloaded and the DNA ligases were identified.^[15] Prior to this research, it was believed that bacteria used NAD-dependent DNA ligases for replication, and archaea and eukaryotes utilise ATP-dependent DNA ligases.^[15] However, after analysing the genomes of both high-light and low-light P. marinus, it was concluded that in the high-light bacteria an ATP-dependent DNA ligase is present instead of a NAD-dependent form.^[15] Williamson and her team suggest that this variation from typical bacterial replication enzymes could be an adaptation brought on by the extreme environmental conditions.^[12]

• January 2023 - MBIE Smart Idea funding for a research project titled "A ligase-based solution for non-natural nucleic acid synthesis"^[2]
• July 2021 - Rutherford Discovery Fellowship for a research project titled "In extremis: how bacteria replicate, repair and diversify their genomes in challenging environments" by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.^[2][5]
• June 2021 - Explorer Grant for a research project titled "Extracellular DNA repair: a role in antimicrobial resistance?" from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.^[2][16]
• May 2019 - Marsden Fast-Start grant for a research project titled "DNA repair systems of the Antarctic microbial metagenome" from the Royal Society Te Apārangi.^[2][5]

• Hjerde, Erik; Maguren, Ashleigh; Rzoska-Smith, Elizabeth; Kirby, Bronwyn; Williamson, Adele (14 May 2020). "DNA ligases of Prochlorococcus marinus: an evolutionary exception to the rules of replication". bioRxiv 10.1101/2020.05.11.089284.
• Rzoska-Smith, Elizabeth; Stelzer, Ronja; Monterio, Maria; Cary, Stephen C.; Williamson, Adele (2023). "DNA repair enzymes of the Antarctic Dry Valley metagenome". Frontiers in Microbiology. 14. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1156817. PMC 10140301. PMID 37125210.
• Williamson, Adele; Conlan, Brendon; Hillier, Warwick; Wydrzynski, Tom (2011). "The evolution of Photosystem II: Insights into the past and future". Photosynthesis Research. 107 (1): 71–86. Bibcode:2011PhoRe.107...71W. doi:10.1007/s11120-010-9559-3. PMID 20512415.
• De Santi, Concetta; Willassen, Nils Peder; Williamson, Adele (2016). "Biochemical Characterization of a Family 15 Carbohydrate Esterase from a Bacterial Marine Arctic Metagenome". PLOS ONE. 11 (7): e0159345. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1159345D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159345. hdl:10037/10715. PMC 4951047. PMID 27433797.
• Jensen, Marianne S.; Fredriksen, Lasse; MacKenzie, Alasdair K.; Pope, Phillip B.; Leiros, Ingar; Chylenski, Piotr; Williamson, Adele K.; Christopeit, Tony; Østby, Heidi; Vaaje-Kolstad, Gustav; Eijsink, Vincent G. H. (2018). "Discovery and characterization of a thermostable two-domain GH6 endoglucanase from a compost metagenome". PLOS ONE. 13 (5): e0197862. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1397862J. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197862. PMC 5968413. PMID 29795644.
• Williamson, Adele K. (2008). "Structural and functional aspects of the MSP (PsbO) and study of its differences in thermophilic versus mesophilic organisms". Photosynthesis Research. 98 (1–3): 365–389. Bibcode:2008PhoRe..98..365W. doi:10.1007/s11120-008-9353-7. PMID 18780158.
• Williamson, Adele; De Santi, Concetta; Altermark, Bjørn; Karlsen, Christian; Hjerde, Erik (2016). "Complete genome sequence of Halomonas sp. R5-57". Standards in Genomic Sciences. 11 (1): 62. doi:10.1186/s40793-016-0192-4. hdl:10037/10114. PMC 5015195. PMID 27610212.
• De Santi, Concetta; Gani, Osman Absm; Helland, Ronny; Williamson, Adele (2017). "Structural insight into a CE15 esterase from the marine bacterial metagenome". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 17278. Bibcode:2017NatSR...717278D. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-17677-4. hdl:10037/12439. PMC 5722869. PMID 29222424.
• Bjerga, Gro Elin Kjæreng; Lale, Rahmi; Williamson, Adele Kim (2016). "Engineering low-temperature expression systems for heterologous production of cold-adapted enzymes". Bioengineered. 7 (1): 33–38. doi:10.1080/21655979.2015.1128589. hdl:10037/16717. PMC 4878266. PMID 26710170.
• Bjerga, Gro Elin Kjæreng; Williamson, Adele Kim (2015). "Cold shock induction of recombinant Arctic environmental genes". BMC Biotechnology. 15: 78. doi:10.1186/s12896-015-0185-1. hdl:10037/8752. PMC 4544801. PMID 26286037.