Thomas W. Cline
Thomas W. Cline | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 6, 1946 |
| Known for | Research on sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster and the Sex-lethal (Sxl) gene |
| Spouse | Barbara J. Meyer |
| Awards | Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal (Genetics Society of America) Edward Novitski Prize (2010) Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1996) Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genetics, developmental biology |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
Thomas W. Cline (born May 6, 1946) is an American geneticist known for his research on the genetic mechanisms of sex determination in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. He is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His work has focused particularly on the regulation and function of the master regulatory gene Sex-lethal (Sxl), a key switch controlling sexual development and dosage compensation in flies.[1]
Cline's research has helped understand how chromosomal signals determine sexual identity during early development and how these signals regulate RNA splicing and gene expression pathways controlling sex determination. His work has also explored the evolutionary dynamics of sex-determination systems.[1]
Cline was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996 in recognition of his contributions to genetics.[1]
Career
Cline was a professor at Princeton University before later joining the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where he conducted much of his research on sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster.[2] He is married to geneticist Barbara J. Meyer.[2] Prior to their move to Berkeley, Cline held a tenured position at Princeton while Meyer was a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the two maintained positions at separate institutions for several years before jointly moving to Berkeley.[2]
Cline's early research papers on sex determination and dosage compensation in Drosophila were noted for their depth of genetic analysis and influential single-author contributions to the field.[2] Cline and Meyer have also collaborated scientifically, including co-authoring review articles comparing mechanisms of sex determination in different organisms.[3]
Research
Cline's research has focused on the genetic mechanisms that determine sexual development and dosage compensation in Drosophila melanogaster. His early work used classical genetics to analyze maternal-effect mutations affecting sex determination, including studies of the gene daughterless, which demonstrated temperature-sensitive and sex-specific developmental effects during embryogenesis.[4]
Genetic analysis by Cline demonstrated that mutations in the gene Sex-lethal (Sxl) could transform genetically male tissue toward female development, helping establish Sxl as the central regulatory switch controlling sex determination and dosage compensation in Drosophila.[5]
Subsequent work helped clarify the role of daughterless as a maternally supplied regulatory factor required for activation of the master sex-determination gene Sex-lethal (Sxl). These studies demonstrated that the gene plays multiple developmental roles and functions differently in germ-line and somatic tissues.[6]
Cline also contributed to identifying the molecular signals that communicate the X chromosome–to–autosome ratio that determines sex in flies. Work with colleagues showed that components of the achaete–scute complex encode transcription factors that act as X-linked signal elements regulating the activation of Sxl.[7]
Later work identified additional components of the signaling network controlling Sxl, including factors acting through the JAK/STAT signaling pathway, demonstrating that extracellular signaling molecules can function as elements of the sex-determination signal.[8]
Honors and awards
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994)[9]
- Edward Novitski Prize (2010)[10]
- Member, National Academy of Sciences (1996)[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Thomas W. Cline". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
- ^ a b c d "Barbara Meyer on UC Berkeley". Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Oral History Collection. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
- ^ Cline, Thomas W.; Meyer, Barbara J. (1996). "Vive la différence: males vs females in flies vs worms". Annual Review of Genetics. 30: 637–702. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.30.1.637.
- ^ Cline, T. W. (1976). "A sex-specific, temperature-sensitive maternal effect of the daughterless mutation of Drosophila melanogaster". Genetics. 84 (4): 723–742. doi:10.1093/genetics/84.4.723. PMC 1213604. PMID 827461.
- ^ Cline, T. W. (1979). "A male-specific lethal mutation in Drosophila melanogaster that transforms sex". Developmental Biology. 72 (2): 266–275. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(79)90117-9. PMID 116894.
- ^ Cronmiller, C.; Cline, T. W. (1987). "The Drosophila sex determination gene daughterless has different functions in the germ line versus the soma". Cell. 48 (3): 479–487. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(87)90198-x. PMID 3802198.
- ^ Erickson, J. W.; Cline, T. W. (1991). "Molecular nature of the Drosophila sex determination signal and its link to neurogenesis". Science. 251 (4997): 1071–1074. doi:10.1126/science.1900130. PMID 1900130.
- ^ Sefton, L.; Timmer, J. R.; Zhang, Y.; Béranger, F.; Cline, T. W. (2000). "An extracellular activator of the Drosophila JAK/STAT pathway is a sex-determination signal element". Nature. 405 (6789): 970–973. doi:10.1038/35016119. PMID 10879541.
- ^ "Thomas Warren Cline". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
- ^ Salz, Helen (2010). "The 2010 Novitski Prize: Thomas W. Cline". Genetics. 184 (4): 875. doi:10.1534/genetics.110.113779.