We combine experimental techniques with computational simulations to probe the mechanisms of environmental organic processes, with the goal of guiding the prediction or engineering of these processes for carbon and nutrient cycling and recycling.

We address research questions at the interfaces of environmental chemistry, environmental health, and environmental biotechnology. We seek to gain novel molecular insights into the mechanisms that control the dynamic fate of organic nutrients, biomacromolecules, and organic contaminants.

Just accepted manuscript in Environmental Science and Technology by Wilkes, Zhou, Carroll, Aryal, Teitel, Wilson, Zhang, Kappor, Castaneda, Guss, Waldbauer, and Aristilde

TITLE: Mechanisms of polyethylene terephthalate pellet fragmentation into nanoplastics and assimilable carbons by wastewater Comamonas —ABSTRACT: Comamonadacae bacteria are enriched on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics in wastewaters and urban rivers, but the PET-degrading mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated these

New article in Nature Communications by Basinski, Bone, Klein, Thonsomboon, Mitchell, Shukle, Druschel, Thompson, and Aristilde

TITLE: Unraveling iron oxides as abiotic catalysts of organic phosphorus recycling in soil and sediment matrices —ABSTRACT: In biogeochemical phosphorus cycling, iron oxide minerals are acknowledged as strong adsorbents of inorganic and organic phosphorus. Dephosphorylation of organic phosphorus is attributed

New article in Environmental Science and Technology Letters by Yoon, Vega, Wang, Poulain, Giometto, Aristilde, and Reid

TITLE: Repression of Microbial Arsenite Uptake and Methylation by Dissolved Organic Carbon —ABSTRACT: Arsenic methylation is the microbe-mediated transformation of inorganic As into methylated species, an important component of the biogeochemical arsenic cycle in rice paddies. Prior to methylation, arsenite

New article in Nature Communications by Karim,, Brown, Archuleta, Grannan, Aristilde, Goyal, Leonard, Mangan, Prindle, Rocklin, Tyo, Zoloth, Jewett, Calkins, Kamat, Tullman-Ercek, and Lucks

TITLE: Deconstructing synthetic biology across scales: A conceptual approach for training synthetic biologists —ABSTRACT: Synthetic biology allows us to reuse, repurpose, and reconfigure biological systems to address society’s most pressing challenges. Developing biotechnologies in this way requires integrating concepts across

New article in Environmental Chemistry Letters by Klein, Basinski, Niyitanga Manzi, Cheng, Sanchez, Thongsomboon, and Aristilde

TITLE: Phosphorus recycling by mineral‑catalyzed ribonucleotide cleavage on iron and manganese oxides —ABSTRACT: Phosphorus is an essential element influencing both food security via plant fertilization, and water pollution through excessive phosphorus use, yet the phosphorus cycle in ecosystems is poorly

New article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Osorio-Rodriguez, Metcalfe, McGlynn, Yu, Dekas, Ellisman, Deerinck, Aristilde, Grotzinger, and Orphan

TITLE: Microbially induced precipitation of silica by anaerobic methane-oxidizing consortia and implications for microbial fossil preservation —ABSTRACT: Authigenic carbonate minerals can preserve biosignatures of microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in the rock record. It is not currently known whether

New article in iScience by Casini, McCubbin, Esquivel-Elizondo, Luque, Evseeva, Fink, Beblawy, Youngblut, Aristilde, Huson, Dräger, Ley, Marcellin, Angenent, and Molitor

TITLE: An integrated systems-biology approach reveals differences in formate metabolism in the genus Methanothermobacter —ABSTRACT: Methanogenesis allows methanogenic archaea to generate cellular energy for their growth while producing methane. Thermophilic hydrogenotrophic species of the genus Methanothermobacter have been recognized as