THE WHITEMAN LABORATORY
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Rebecca Tarnopol

Picture
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Molecular & Cell Biology

Department of Integrative Biology

Office: 329 Weill Hall
Email: tarnopol [at] berkeley [dot] edu


Research Interests

Broadly, I am interested in evolutionary genetics in all of its flavors. My specific research interests have tended around the evolution of biotic interactions, especially when toxins are involved. My dissertation work focuses on the functional dissection of a series of bacterial toxins that normally kill animal cells, which have subsequently been co-opted by insects in several orders through horizontal gene transfer. I use drosophilid flies as my primary model system to answer the following questions:
  1. How can animals deploy toxins that evolved to kill them without harming themselves?
  2. How do genes that have evolved for billions of years in bacteria become functionalized in a eukaryotic gene regulatory environment?

Education

  • PhD student, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, 2019-Present
  • B.S., Cellular & Molecular Biology (High Honors), University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2019
  • B.S., English, University​ of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2019

Publications

3) Verster, K.I.*, Tarnopol, R. L.*, Akalu, S.M., Whiteman, N.K. 2021. Horizontal transfer of microbial toxin genes to gall midge genomes. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 2021.02.03.429655. doi: 10.1101/2021.02.03.429655. *denotes co-first authors.

2) Lee, C. K.*, Vachier, J.*, de Anda, J., Zhao, K., Baker, A. E., Bennett, R. R., Armbruster, C. R., Lewis, K. A., Tarnopol, R. L. et al. Social Cooperativity of Bacteria during Reversible Surface Attachment in Young Biofilms: a Quantitative Comparison of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 and PAO1. mBio 2020, 11 (1) e02644-19; DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02644-19
​

1) Tarnopol, R. L., Bowden, S., Hinkle, K., Balakrishnan, K., Nishii, A., Kaczmarek, C. J., Palowski, T., Vechiarelli, A. G. Lessons from a minimal genome: What Are the Essential Organizing Principles of a Cell Built from Scratch? ChemBioChem 2019, 20, 2535. DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201900249

Honors and Awards

  • Society for the Study of Evolution Rosemary Grant Advanced Award, 2022
  • National Institutes of Health Genetics Dissection of Cells and Organisms Trainee, 2021-2022
  • Society for the Study of Evolution R.C. Lewontin Early Award, 2021
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2019-2024
  • Berkeley Fellowship for Graduate Study, 2019-2024
  • Genetics Society of America Victoria Finnerty Travel Award, 2019
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The Whiteman Lab | Integrative Biology | University of California | Berkeley, CA 94720

Photographs are copyright protected by Noah Whiteman, Whiteman lab members, or were obtained through Creative Commons licenses.
  • Home
  • Group Members
    • Principal Investigator, Dr. Noah Whiteman
    • Research Specialist Susan Bernstein
    • Postdoctoral Researchers and Research Associates >
      • Dr. Samridhi Chaturvedi
      • Dr. Moe Bakhtiari
      • Dr. Benjamin Goldman-Huertas
      • Dr. Carolina Reisenman
    • Graduate Students >
      • Jessica Aguilar
      • Nicolas Alexandre
      • Diler Haji
      • Julianne Pelaez
      • Hiromu Suzuki
      • Rebecca Tarnopol
      • Kirsten Isabel Verster
    • Undergraduate Students >
      • Saron Akalu
      • Jaden Ha
      • Selah-Marie Grogan
      • Gillian Oaks
      • Ashleigh Takemoto
      • Jossie Tamsil
    • Former members >
      • Eric Rogers
      • Ted Chor
      • Dr. Teruyuki Matsanaga
      • Anna Pham
      • Anna Leipertz
      • Michael Astourian
      • Ashley Bendl
      • Elizabeth Ordeman
      • Bridget Cheng
      • Irene Liang
      • Gillian Montross
      • Esteban Rodas
      • Giovani Pimentel-Solorio
      • Faye Romero
      • Marissa Sandoval
      • Shivani Sundaram
      • Kannagi Yashroy
      • Derrick Yip
      • Haarini Sridhar
      • Sneha Agrawal
      • Dr. Marianna Karageorgi
      • Kevin Miao
      • Dr. Rebecca Duncan
      • Kelly D'Ambrogia
      • Jiarui Wang
      • Tim O'Connor
      • Judith Okoro
      • William Farley
      • Dr. Cathy Rushworth
      • Andy Gloss
      • Alana Augur
      • Hoon Pyon
      • Julianne Ray
      • Dr. Simon "Niels" Groen
      • Dr. David Hembry (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Jennifer Koop (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Anna Nelson Dittrich (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Rick Lapoint (PERT Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Dr. Paul Nabity (USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow)
      • Christina Meyer
      • Parris Humphrey
      • Lea Flechon
      • Research Specialist, Tim Rast
      • Amir Abidov
      • Allan Castillo
      • Matt Cravens
      • Mitchell Feldmann
      • Jason Giles
      • Lauren Johnston
      • Noel Kitchen
      • Erika LaPlante
      • Matthew J. Velasquez
    • Internal page >
      • Protocols
      • Recommended Reading
  • Research
  • Publications
  • DEI
    • #leadership
    • #participation
    • #recruitment
    • #belonging
    • #accountability
  • Join
  • Contact
  • "Monarch Fly"