Postdoctoral Associate

Peter Kotsoana Montso is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Microbiology at Stellenbosch University. He completed his PhD in Biology, majoring in Molecular Microbiology. His PhD research focused on isolation and genomic analysis of Escherichia coli O177 phages and assessing their efficacy in reducing food borne pathogens in food and live animal using various models.

Currently, Peter’s research focuses on understanding microbial and viral communities, with emphasis on establishing viral catalogues in strategic ecosystems such as wetlands, and understand how they regulate biogeochemical cycling and carbon sequestration in those ecosystems. He utilises high throughput sequencing (shotgun sequencing) technology to extrapolate viral-microbial interaction in wetlands soils and leveraging computational tools to discover novel auxiliary metabolic genes involved in metabolic and functional pathways.

Peter has published over 20 articles (including book chapters) in peer-reviewed journals. He has received National Research Foundation Award (Y2 rating) in 2024.

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