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Rebecca Tarnopol

@tarnopol.bsky.social

490 followers 230 following 32 posts

Pushing flies at UC Berkeley | Functional evolutionary geneticist, interested in toxins/insects/microbes

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Dec 20

Excited to share the major work of my dissertation, out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We use Drosophila genetics to dissect the evolution of phage-derived toxins that were horizontally transferred to insects and now function as potent anti-parasitoid defenses (1/n): tinyurl.com/2k9ypyxr

Experimental horizontal transfer of phage-derived genes to Drosophila confers innate immunity to parasitoids

Metazoan parasites have played a major role in shaping innate immunity in animals. Insect hosts and parasitoid wasps are excellent models for illumina…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Casey terHorst @ecoevolab.bsky.social · Sep 8

The GRFP lives!! (due end of October)
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Aug 22

woohoo! go @kdc509.bsky.social!!

Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Matt Barber @biobarber.bsky.social · Aug 22

Excited to share the latest work by outstanding PhD student @kdc509.bsky.social. This was one of our first forays into experimental evolution and uncovered some cool connections between potassium transport and antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus. Major kudos to Killian!

Evolution of polyamine resistance in Staphylococcus aureus through modulation of potassium transport | mSphere

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of infectious disease-related deaths globally. Understanding factors that govern adaptation and survival of S. aureus and other pathogens in the host environme...

journals.asm.org

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · Aug 15

FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...

FlyBase:Contribute to FlyBase - FlyBase Wiki

wiki.flybase.org

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Aug 8

Woohoo! Congrats Danielle!!

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Noah Whiteman @nkwhiteman.bsky.social · Jul 28

@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social undergrads, there is still space in this course on the cellular, genetic, and developmental basis of evolution taught by Professor Nicole King and me this Fall. Find out why, as Dobzhansky, said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · Jul 15

Applications now open for the SSE GREG Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards! These grants provide up to $3500 to expand your dissertation work. Submit your proposal by September 15!
www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

Text: Society for the Study of Evolution Graduate Research Excellence Grants. Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards, Deadline: September 15, 5:00 PM Eastern.

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Jessie Perlmutter @jiperlmutter.bsky.social · Jul 14

📢 There is a lab technician or lab specialist position available in my lab, starting fall 2025. The position will involve molecular biology, microbiology, drosophila work, and more. Please share with anyone who may be interested and apply here: jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...

Biology Lab Tech 2 or Lab Specialist in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America | Research at University of Virginia

Apply for Biology Lab Tech 2 or Lab Specialist job with University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America. Research at University of Virginia

jobs.virginia.edu

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Jul 10

woohoo! congrats phoebe!! excited to see the exciting science your lab will do!

Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Noah Whiteman @nkwhiteman.bsky.social · Jul 5

Pleased this paper led by Teru Matsunaga at University of Tokyo (former postdoc) and in collaboration with many colleagues is out @official-smbe.bsky.social Molecular Biology & Evolution: doi.org/10.1093/molb.... Palp-expressed Or42a is an isothiocyanate sensor and can drive aversion to ITCs…

Odorant receptors mediating avoidance of toxic mustard oils in Drosophila melanogaster are expanded in herbivorous relatives

Abstract. Plants release defense volatile compounds that can deter herbivores. Among them are electrophilic toxins, such as isothiocyanates from mustard pl

doi.org

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Jun 19

Congrats!

Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Jun 19

Congrats Ben! Gotta grab tacos oscar before you move!

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Jun 11

congrats shyama! looking forward to reading!!

Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Jun 5

Congrats Sunnyjoy!

Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · Jun 3

We currently have a call for support that has gone out to European labs, to support FlyBase-UK. We are asking our colleagues from labs in the US and other countries to wait for a similar call to them that will go out in the near future, to support the US sites. We thank you for your patience.

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · Jun 3

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯

Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below.

This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Marc Dionne @marcsdionne.bsky.social · Jun 3

My lab studies bacterial infections. We spend a lot of time looking at (or for) species-specific genetic and genomic databases for hosts and microbes. FlyBase is the best of all—there is literally no comparison. Its existence is under threat. Please donate.
www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · Jun 2

Get the word out far and wide. New opportunity from the Simons Foundation in the Eco-Evo space.

2026 Simons Graduate Fellowship in Ecology and Evolution Awards, due July 31, 2025, only for incoming PhD students who plan to start their PhDs in Fall 2026.

www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...

www.simonsfoundation.org

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · May 21

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Nicolas Alexandre @nicmalexandre.bsky.social · May 21

🚨New paper alert!🚨
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology

Supplemental Feeding as a Driver of Population Expansion and Morphological Change in Anna's Hummingbirds

Bird beaks are highly adaptable, with the potential to undergo rapid morphological shifts in response to environmental change such as climatic variation or food availability. Anna's Hummingbirds (Cal...

dx.doi.org

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · May 21

Yayay go Drs. Zytnick and Govindaraju!!!

Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · May 17

Wolbachia uses ankyrin repeats to target specific fly proteins https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.15.654400v1

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · May 15

gotta knock on the rabbi’s door 3 times before he’ll let you into his lab 😌 thanks for letting me work on this crazy project and for your mentorship!

Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Apr 18

Wow! Congrats!!

Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

Darren Obbard @darrenobbard.bsky.social · Apr 16

I know you like #Drosophila and I know you like #Genomes - but do you also like #Genes? Coding DNA annotation of 304 species of Drosophilidae! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Comparative gene annotation of 304 species of Drosophilidae

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Rebecca Tarnopol

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · Mar 31

Genomics and reproductive biology of Leptopilina malgretoutensis Buffington, Lue, Davis & Tracey sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Figitidae): An asexual parasitoid of Caribbean Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.28.645512v1

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Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social · Mar 19

Excited to be in sunny San Diego for my 5th (!) fly meeting #Dros25! I will be giving a poster (329T) tomorrow on some new host-parasitoid experiments — would love to chat with interested folks!