Profile
David F Clayton
Genetics and Biochemistry
Dept Chair/Head
864-656-3586
Life Sciences Building 140B [Office]
Educational Background
PhD, Molecular Cell Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1985
BS, Biochemistry, The University of Georgia, 1980
Profile/About Me
David F. Clayton obtained his PhD with Prof. James E. Darnell Jr., studying gene transcription in liver cells, and then launched the first investigations of genes expressed in the brain of songbirds – a model organism for studying brain circuit development, sex differences, and learning and memory. Clayton’s research group discovered the Immediate Early Gene ("ZENK") response in vocal communication, described the first patterns of developmental and sex-specific gene regulation in the vocal learning circuit, and independently discovered the brain disease-linked gene now known at alpha-synuclein. At the University of Illinois (1990-2012), he organized a broad set of international collaborations which led to the complete sequencing of the songbird (zebra finch) genome. In 2012 he moved to Queen Mary University of London, as Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the new Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology. In 2020 he returned to the USA as Chair of the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. With more than 14,000 citations, Clayton’s work continues to have influence over a wide range of fields. Clayton has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the Royal Society of Biology (UK).
Research Interests
My research focuses on how brain and genome interact to govern how experiences are filtered, stored and remembered. Measurements of gene regulation and epigenetic mechanisms are central to my approach. Much of my research has used the zebra finch as a focal organism. Zebra finches learn vocal signals, a process mediated by a discrete brain circuit and considered a unique animal model for human speech learning and for social communication. Current interests include:
• Functions of the “genomic action potential” (Clayton, 2000)
• Neuroepigenetic mechanisms in developmental reprogramming
• Early development of systems for auditory perception
• Neurogenomics of brain sexual differentiation
• Neurogenomic transduction of social stressors
• Applications of machine learning to vocal phenotypes and data sets
Selected Publications
SINCE 2018:
Stuart KC, Edwards RJ, Cheng Y, Warren WC, Burt DW, Sherwin WB, Hofmeister NR, Werner SJ, Ball GF, Bateson M, Brandley MC, Buchanan KL, Cassey P, Clayton DF, De Meyer T, Meddle SL, Rollins LA (2022) Transcript- and annotation-guided genome assembly of the European starling. Molecular Ecology Resources. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13679
Rhie et al (2021) Towards complete and error-free genome assemblies of all vertebrate species. Nature 592, 737–746 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03451-0
Mariette, Clayton and Buchanan (2021) Acoustic developmental programming: a mechanistic and evolutionary framework. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.04.007
Yip PK, Schmitzberger M, Al-Hasan M, George J, Tripoliti E, Michael-Titus AT, Clayton D, Priestley JV (2020) Serotonin expression in the song circuitry of adult male zebra finches. Neuroscience https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.06.018
Clayton DF (2019) Learning birdsong by imitation: Transforming sensory information into vocal imitation allows young finches to sing (Perspective, Neuroscience). Science 366 (6461) 33-34. https://doi:10.1126/science.aaz1552
George JM, Bell ZW, Condliffe D, Dohrer K, Abaurrea T, Spencer K, Leitao A, Gahr M, Hurd PJ, Clayton DF (2019) Acute social isolation alters neurogenomic state in songbird forebrain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820841116
Clayton DF, Anreiter I, Aristizabal M, Frankland PW, Binder EB, Citri A (2019) The role of the genome in experience-dependent plasticity: Extending the analogy of the genomic action potential. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820837116
Bell ZW, Lovell P, Mello CV, Yip P, George JM, Clayton DF (2019) Urotensin-related gene transcripts mark developmental emergence of the male forebrain vocal control system in songbirds. Scientific Reports 9:816. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37057-w
