Aldo Arellano

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

4840 S. State Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-9719

[email protected]

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Profile:

Aldo Arellano is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology working on elucidating the role of microbial community members in food web dynamics of harmful algal blooms and Great Lakes ecology. He is interested in exploring how system-scale processes are impacted by trophic connections between the microscopic and macroscopic. He uses amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics to query food web composition and linkages between microbial community dynamics and grazer activity. Aldo is also generally interested in microbial symbiosis as it pertains to host physiology, ecology and evolution, and stress response.
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Education:
    • Ph.D. in Microbiology, Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025
    • B.A. in Biology and Russian Language and Literature, Dartmouth College, 2017
Research Interest/Area of Expertise:
    • Community ecology
    • Trophic ecology
    • Host-microbe symbiosis
    • Microbial ecology

Publications

Arellano, A.A., Prack, J.L., & Coon, K.L. (2025). Host-mediated niche construction of bacterial communities in an aquatic microecosystem. The ISME Journal. (DOI:10.1093/ismejo/wraf233). [Altmetric Score]

Braakman, R., Satinsky, B., O’Keefe, T. J., Longnecker, K., Hogle, S.L., Becker, J.W., Dooley, K., Arellano A.A., Kido Soule, M.C., Kujawinski, E.B., & Chisholm, S.W. (2025). Global niche partitioning of purine and pyrimidine cross-feeding among ocean microbes. Science Advances. (DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adp1949). [Altmetric Score]Press: https://news.mit.edu/2025/abundant-phytoplankton-feeds-marine-microbe-global-network-0103

Coe, A., Braakman, R., Biller, S.J., Arellano, A.A., Bliem, C., Vo, N.N., von Emster, K., Thomas, E., DeMers, M., Steglich, C., Huisman, J., & Chisholm, S.W. (2024). Emergence of metabolic coupling to the heterotroph Alteromonas promotes dark survival in Prochlorococcus. ISME Communications. (DOI:10.1093/ismeco/ycae131). [Altmetric Score]

Becker, J.W., Pollak, S., Berta-Thompson, J.W., Becker, K.W., Braakman, R., Dooley, K.D., Hackl, T., Coe, A., Arellano, A.A., LeGault, K.N., Berube, P.M., Biller, S.J., Cubilloz-Ruiz, A., Van Mooy, B.A.S., & Chisholm, S.W. (2024). Novel isolates expand the physiological diversity of Prochlorococcus and illuminate its macroevolution. mBio. (DOI:10.1128/mbio.03497-23). [Altmetric Score]

Arellano, A.A., Young, E.B., & Coon, K.L. (2024). An inquiline mosquito modulates microbial diversity and function in an aquatic microecosystem. Molecular Ecology. (DOI:10.1111/mec.17314). [Altmetric Score]

Biller, S.J., Coe, A., Arellano, A.A., Dooley, K., Gong, J., Yeager, E.A., Becker, J.W., & Chisholm, S.W. (2023). Environmental and taxonomic drivers of microbial vesicle production in marine ecosystems. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. (DOI:10.1128/aem.00594-23). [Altmetric Score]

Hackl, T, Laurenceau, R, Ankenbrand, M.J., Bliem, C, Cariani, Z, Thomas, E, Dooley, K.D., Arellano, A.A., Hogle, S.L., Berube, P.M., Leventhal, G.E., Luo, E, Eppley, J, Zayed, A.A., Beaulaurier, J, Stephanauskas, R, Sullivan, M.B., Delong, E.F., Biller, S.J., & Chisholm, S.W. (2023). Novel integrative elements and genomic plasticity in ocean ecosystems. Cell. (DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2022.12.006). [Altmetric Score]Press: https://news.mit.edu/2023/genetic-information-transfer-ocean-microbe-0105

Arellano, A.A., Sommer, A.J., & Coon, K.L. (2022). Beyond canonical models: Why a broader understanding of Diptera-microbiota interactions is essential for vector-borne disease control. Evolutionary ecology. (DOI:10.1007/s10682-022-10197-2). [Altmetric Score]

Arellano, A.A. & Coon K.L. (2022). Bacterial communities in carnivorous pitcher plants colonize and persist in inquiline mosquitoes. Animal microbiome. (DOI:10.1186/s42523-022-00164-1). [Altmetric Score]

Biller, S.J., Lundeen, R.A., Hmelo, L.R., Becker, K.W., Arellano, A.A., Dooley, K., Heal, K.R., Carlson, L.T., Van Mooy, B.A.S., Ingalls, A.E., & Chisholm, S.W. (2021). Prochlorococcus extracellular vesicles: molecular composition and adsorption to diverse microbes. Environmental microbiology. (DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.15834). [Altmetric Score]

Coe, A., Biller, S.J., Thomas, E., Boulias, K., Bliem, C., Arellano, A.A., Dooley, K., Rasmussen, A.N., LeGault, K., O’Keefe, T.J., Stover, S., Greer, E.L., & Chisholm, S.W. (2021). Coping with darkness: The adaptive response of marine picocyanobacteria to repeated light energy deprivation. Limnology and oceanography. (DOI:10.1002/lno.11880). [Altmetric Score]

Laurenceau, R., Raho, N., Forget, M., Arellano, A. A., & Chisholm, S. W. (2021). Frequency of mispackaging of Prochlorococcus DNA by cyanophage. The ISME journal. (DOI:s41396-020-00766-0). [Altmetric Score]

Kremer, C. T., Fey, S. B., Arellano, A. A., & Vasseur, D. A. (2018). Gradual plasticity alters population dynamics in variable environments: thermal acclimation in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhartdii. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. (DOI:10.1098/rspb.2017.1942). [Altmetric Score]

Presentations

University of Michigan Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Tuesday Seminar Series (2025)Contributed Works: Talk –  Functional and phenological consequences of host-microbe feedbacks in the pitcher plant mosquito

Gordon Research Seminar & Gordon Research Conference (2025)Contributed Works: Invited Talk – (GRS) Community dynamics and seasonality of environmentally-acquired mosquito microbiotaPoster – (GRC) Context-dependent impacts of cross-kingdom microbial interactions on mosquito development

Center for Ecology and the Environment Spring Symposium (2025)Contributed Works: Poster The pitcher plant mosquito curates the composition and function of its environmentally acquired microbiota

UW-Madison Department of Bacteriology Raper Symposium (2024)Contributed Works: Poster The pitcher plant mosquito curates the composition and function of its environmentally acquired microbiota

International Society for Microbial Ecology (2024)Contributed Works: Poster The pitcher plant mosquito curates the composition and function of its environmentally acquired microbiota

Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting (2024)Contributed Works: Invited TalkMosquito-mediated structuring of microbial diversity and function in anaquatic microecosystem