PNNL

Christian Ayala is a postdoctoral researcher on the Microbial Systems Dynamics team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His research centers on the use and integration of multi-omics data, including metabolomics, metagenomics, and other environmental datasets, to better understand organic matter dynamics across environmental systems such as coastal urban areas and soils. As part of this work, Ayala also develops computational pipelines that streamline multi-omics analysis and integration.

Ayala earned a PhD in environmental science from the University of Arizona under the supervision of Malak Tfaily. His previous research involved the development of software pipelines for the analysis of metabolomics data, as well as the analysis and integration of metagenomics and metabolomics datasets to better understand how resource availability affects arid soils and peatland systems.

Additionally, he holds an MS in entomology and plant pathology from Oklahoma State University and a BS in biotechnology from the Universidad of Fuerzas Armadas in Sangolqui, Ecuador.

• Metagenomics
• Metabolomics
• Microbial ecology
• Data science
• Statistics

• PhD in environmental science, University of Arizona, 2025
• MS in entomology and plant pathology, Oklahoma State University, 2019
• BS in biotechnology, University of the Armed Forces – ESPE, 2016

2026

• Song, Y. C. et al. Continental-scale integration of soil metagenomes and organic matter chemistry reveals ubiquitous microbial capacity for chemically-recalcitrant carbon decomposition. Nat. Commun. 17, 5290 (2026).
• Freire-Zapata, V., Ayala-Ortiz, C., Walker, L. R. & Tfaily, M. M. Multi-omics integration reveals how coordinated microbial mechanisms maintain biogeochemical stability in water-limited soils. Commun. Earth Environ. 1–19 (2026).

2025

• Ayala-Ortiz, C. et al. Tracing priming effects in palsa peat carbon dynamics using a stable isotope-assisted metabolomics approach. Front. Mol. Biosci. 12, 1621357 (2025).

2024

• Rajakaruna, S. et al. Adding labile carbon to peatland soils triggers deep carbon breakdown. Commun. Earth Environ. 5, 1–14 (2024).

2023

• Hildebrand, G. A. et al. Uncovering the dominant role of root metabolism in shaping rhizosphere metabolome under drought in tropical rainforest plants. Sci. Total Environ. 899, 165689 (2023).
• Hernandez, L. K. et al. Drought re-routes soil microbial carbon metabolism towards emission of volatile metabolites in an artificial tropical rainforest. Nat. Microbiol. 8, 1480–1494 (2023).
• Ayala-Ortiz, C. et al. MetaboDirect: an analytical pipeline for the processing of FT-ICR MS-based metabolomic data. Microbiome 11, 28 (2023).

2022

• Leewis, M.-C. et al. The influence of soil development on the depth distribution and structure of soil microbial communities. Soil Biol. Biochem. 174, 108808 (2022).
• Andreason, S. A., Lahey, Z., Ayala-Ortiz, C. & Simmons, A. M. Genome sequences of novel iflaviruses in the gray lawn Leafhopper, an experimental vector of corn stunt Spiroplasma. Microbiol. Resour. Announc. 11, e0044622 (2022).

2021

• Ayala-Ortiz, C. O. et al. Effect of food source availability in the salivary gland transcriptome of the unique burying beetle Nicrophorus pustulatus (Coleoptera: Silphidae). PLoS One 16, e0255660 (2021).