Rebecca Tarnopol
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Molecular & Cell Biology
Department of Integrative Biology
Office: 329 Weill Hall
Email: tarnopol [at] berkeley [dot] edu
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:
- How can animals deploy toxins that evolved to kill them without harming themselves?
- 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
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