Thomas W. Cline

Thomas W. Cline
Born (1946-05-06) May 6, 1946
Known forResearch on sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster and the Sex-lethal (Sxl) gene
SpouseBarbara J. Meyer
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics, developmental biology
WorkplacesUniversity 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 emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. His work focused particularly on the regulation and function of the master regulatory gene Sex-lethal (Sxl), which controls sexual development and dosage compensation in flies.[1]

Cline's research 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 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

Before joining the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, Cline was a tenured professor at Princeton University, while his wife, geneticist Barbara J. Meyer, was a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2] The two jointly moved to Berkeley.[2]

Cline and Meyer collaborated scientifically, including co-authoring review articles comparing mechanisms of sex determination in different organisms.[3]

Research

Cline's research 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] Further 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][6] These observations helped establish the genetic hierarchy controlling sex determination and dosage compensation.[7]

Subsequent work by Cline 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.[5][8]

Cline also contributed to identifying the molecular signals that communicate the X chromosome–to–autosome ratio that determines sex in flies.[5] 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.[9]

Later publications 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.[10]

Honors and awards

Personal life

Cline is married to geneticist Barbara J. Meyer.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Thomas W. Cline". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  2. 1 2 3 "Barbara Meyer on UC Berkeley". Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Oral History Collection. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. 1 2 3 Salz, Helen K.; Erickson, James W. (2010). "Sex determination in Drosophila: The view from the top". Fly. 4 (1): 60–70. doi:10.4161/fly.4.1.11277. PMC 2855772. PMID 20160499.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Penalva, Luiz O. F.; Sánchez, Lucas (2003). "RNA binding protein Sex-lethal (Sxl) and control of Drosophila sex determination and dosage compensation". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 67 (3): 343–359. doi:10.1128/MMBR.67.3.343-359.2003. PMC 193869. PMID 12966139.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "Thomas Warren Cline". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  12. ↑ Salz, Helen (2010). "The 2010 Novitski Prize: Thomas W. Cline". Genetics. 184 (4): 875. doi:10.1534/genetics.110.113779. PMC 2865922.
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