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Catherine Reinke

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Catherine Reinke
Associate Professor


Graf Hall

503-883-2363

creinke@linfield.edu

A devotion to the small liberal arts college experience led me to Linfield University. I grew up in Chicago and found my passion for independent research as an undergraduate. Doing research means doing something no one has ever done before to learn something new. I engage in productive research with Linfield students and aim to help them discover the passions that inspire their best efforts.

Education

  • B.A., biology and English, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
  • Ph.D., molecular genetics and cell biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • NRSA Fellow, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Research interests 

My path to becoming a member of Linfield’s faculty has included time working as a plant developmental biologist making transgenic plants, as a yeast cell biologist making and studying fluorescent fusion proteins, as a fruit fly geneticist uncovering the molecular requirements for microRNA function.

At Linfield, I have embarked on a new research project to understand how genetic and epigenetic features of chromosome organization influence gene expression and to discover how genes and genomes have evolved in fruit fly species and parasitoid wasps. Our most recent exploration of changes to genes and genome organization ultimately aims to help explain how immune systems evade or succumb to the activity of venom proteins.

Academic interests

I am a molecular geneticist, cell biologist and developmental biologist. Having trained with numerous truly inspiring scientists, I now work to interpret the text of the genome, to determine the genetic basis of observed biological structure and function. With Linfield students, I have used classical genetic analysis, fluorescence and electron microscopy, molecular techniques and emerging bioinformatics protocols to address our experimental questions.

Publications

  • Loppato, D. et al. (2022). Student attitudes contribute to the effectiveness of a genomics CURE. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 23(2):e00208-21.
  • Loppato, D. et al. (2020). Facilitating growth through frustration: using genomics research in a course-based undergraduate research experience. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 21(1):21.1.6.
  • Elgin SCR et al. (2017). The GEP: crowd-sourcing big data analysis with undergraduates. Trends in Genetics 33(2):81-85.
  • Shaffer CD et al. (2014). A course-based research experience: how benefits change with increased investment in instructional time. CBE Life Sci Educ. 13(1):111-30.
  • Pressman S, Reinke CA, Wang XH and RW Carthew. (2012). A Systematic Genetic Screen to Dissect the MicroRNA Pathway in Drosophila. Genes Genomes Genetics 2(4):437-48.
  • Cassidy J, Li X, Reinke CA and RW Carthew. (2009). A microRNA imparts robustness against environmental fluctuation during development. Cell 137(2):273-82.
  • Reinke CA and RW Carthew. (2008). BMP signaling goes posttranscriptional in a microRNA sort of way. Developmental Cell 15(2):174-175.
  • Reinke CA and SR Singer. (2007). From Observers to Participants: joining the scientific community. Building Intellectual Community through Collaboration. College City Publications, Northfield, MN.
  • Losev E, Reinke CA, Jellen J, Strongin DE, Bevis BJ and BS Glick. (2006). Golgi Maturation in Living Yeast. Nature 441(7096):1002-6.
  • Reinke CA, Kozik P and BS Glick. (2004). Golgi inheritance in small buds of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is linked to endoplasmic reticulum inheritance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101(52):18018-23.
  • Soderholm J, Bhattacharyya D, Strongin D, Markovitz V, Connerly PL, Reinke CA and BS Glick. (2003). The transitional ER localization mechanism of Pichia pastoris Sec12. Developmental Cell 6(5):649-59.
  • Bevis BJ, Hammond AT, Reinke CA and BS Glick. (2002). De novo formation of transitional ER sites and Golgi structures in Pichia pastoris. Nature Cell Biology (10):750-6.
  • Rossanese OW, Reinke CA, Bevis BJ, Hammond AT, Sears IB, O'Connor J and BS Glick. (2001). A role for actin, Cdc1p, and Myo2p in the inheritance of late Golgi elements in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Journal of Cell Biology 153(1):47-62.
  • Singer S, Sollinger J, Maki S, Fishbach J, Short B, Reinke C, Fick J, Cox L, McCall A and H. Mullen. (1999). Inflorescence Architecture: a developmental genetics approach. Botanical Review 65:385-410.

Grants

(Within the last five years.)

2019-2024 National Science Foundation (NSF): Improving Undergraduate STEM
Education (IUSE): Sustaining and Growing a Dispersed Community of Practice that Engages Undergraduates in Course-Based Genomics Research. Funded ($1.99M/5 years) Co-principal investigator.