A group of young women in lab coats on McKeldin Mall

Thomas Kocher headshot
Contact Info
Office Phone: 301.405.4496
Lab Phone: 301.405.6242
Fax: 301.314.9358
Office Address: 2132 Bioscience Research Bldg
Kocher Lab Website
Thomas Kocher
Professor

Teaching

  • BSCI 222: Principles of Genetics (Fall semesters)
  • BIOL338K: Genetic Research on Cichlid Fishes
  • BIOL708J: Genomic Approaches in Ecology and Evolution (not currently taught)

Graduate Program Affiliation

  • BISI-Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics (BEES)

Research Interests

More than 700 species of cichlid fishes have arisen within Lake Malawi within the last million years. We want to understand the evolutionary forces which have caused this rapid speciation. We are mapping genes for phenotypic traits associated with speciation, such as jaw morphology, color pattern, sex determination and mate preferences. Our ultimate goal is to identify the genes responsible for speciation of these fishes, and to study the geographic distribution of allelic variants among populations in the wild.

Education

B.A., Yale University, 1981
Ph.D., University of Colorado, 1986

All Publications

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Latest Publications via PubMed

Behrens KA,Jailwala S,Clark FE,Meyer AC,Kumar NM,Konings AF,Roberts RB,Conte MA,Streelman JT,McGrath PT,Kocher TD
A Chromosome Inversion Creates a Supergene for Sex and Colour in Lake Malawi Cichlids.
Mol Ecol. 2025 Jun 10;:e17821. doi: 10.1111/mec.17821. Epub 2025 Jun 10
Kumar NM,Cooper TL,Kocher TD,Streelman JT,McGrath PT
Large inversions in Lake Malawi cichlids are associated with habitat preference, lineage, and sex determination.
bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 18;:. pii: 2024.10.28.620687. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.28.620687. Epub 2025 Mar 18
Xu J,Li P,Xu M,Wang C,Kocher TD,Wang D
Mutation of mpv17 results in loss of iridophores due to mitochondrial dysfunction in tilapia.
J Hered. 2025 Mar 1;116(2):101-112. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esae034. Epub
Kocher TD,Meisel RP,Gamble T,Behrens KA,Gammerdinger WJ
Yes, polygenic sex determination is a thing!
Trends Genet. 2024 Dec;40(12):1001-1017. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.10.003. Epub 2024 Nov 5
Wang J,Tao W,Kocher TD,Wang D
Sex chromosome turnover and biodiversity in fishes.
J Genet Genomics. 2024 Dec;51(12):1351-1360. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2024.08.008. Epub 2024 Sep 2
Behrens KA,Koblmüller S,Kocher TD
Genome assemblies for Chromidotilapia guntheri (Teleostei: Cichlidae) identify a novel candidate gene for vertebrate sex determination, RIN3.
Front Genet. 2024;15:1447628. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1447628. Epub 2024 Aug 16
Behrens KA,Koblmueller S,Kocher TD
Diversity of Sex Chromosomes in Vertebrates: Six Novel Sex Chromosomes in Basal Haplochromines (Teleostei: Cichlidae).
Genome Biol Evol. 2024 Jul 3;16(7):. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evae152. Epub
Qi S,Dai S,Zhou X,Wei X,Chen P,He Y,Kocher TD,Wang D,Li M
Dmrt1 is the only male pathway gene tested indispensable for sex determination and functional testis development in tilapia.
PLoS Genet. 2024 Mar;20(3):e1011210. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011210. Epub 2024 Mar 27
Yu M,Zhang S,Ma Z,Qiang J,Wei J,Sun L,Kocher TD,Wang D,Tao W
Disruption of Zar1 leads to arrested oogenesis by regulating polyadenylation via Cpeb1 in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).
Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Mar;260(Pt 2):129632. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129632. Epub 2024 Jan 20
Behrens KA,Zimmermann H,Blažek R,Reichard M,Koblmüller S,Kocher TD
Turnover of sex chromosomes in the Lake Tanganyika cichlid tribe Tropheini (Teleostei: Cichlidae).
Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 30;14(1):2471. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53021-3. Epub 2024 Jan 30
Zheng S,Tao W,Yang H,Kocher TD,Wang Z,Peng Z,Jin L,Pu D,Zhang Y,Wang D
Correction to: 'Identification of sex chromosome and sex-determining gene of southern catfish based on XX, XY and YY genome sequencing' (2022) by Zheng et al.
Proc Biol Sci. 2023 Jan 11;290(1990):20222381. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2381. Epub 2023 Jan 4
Behrens KA,Koblmüller S,Kocher TD
Sex chromosomes in the tribe Cyprichromini (Teleostei: Cichlidae) of Lake Tanganyika.
Sci Rep. 2022 Oct 26;12(1):17998. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-23017-y. Epub 2022 Oct 26
Wang C,Xu J,Kocher TD,Li M,Wang D
CRISPR Knockouts of pmela and pmelb Engineered a Golden Tilapia by Regulating Relative Pigment Cell Abundance.
J Hered. 2022 Jul 23;113(4):398-413. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esac018. Epub
Triay C,Courcelle M,Caminade P,Bezault E,Baroiller JF,Kocher TD,D'Cotta H
Polymorphism of Sex Determination Amongst Wild Populations Suggests its Rapid Turnover Within the Nile Tilapia Species.
Front Genet. 2022;13:820772. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.820772. Epub 2022 May 17
Kocher TD,Behrens KA,Conte MA,Aibara M,Mrosso HDJ,Green ECJ,Kidd MR,Nikaido M,Koblmüller S
New Sex Chromosomes in Lake Victoria Cichlid Fishes (Cichlidae: Haplochromini).
Genes (Basel). 2022 Apr 30;13(5):. doi: 10.3390/genes13050804. Epub 2022 Apr 30
Zheng S,Tao W,Yang H,Kocher TD,Wang Z,Peng Z,Jin L,Pu D,Zhang Y,Wang D
Identification of sex chromosome and sex-determining gene of southern catfish (Silurus meridionalis) based on XX, XY and YY genome sequencing.
Proc Biol Sci. 2022 Mar 30;289(1971):20212645. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2645. Epub 2022 Mar 16
Tao W,Cao J,Xiao H,Zhu X,Dong J,Kocher TD,Lu M,Wang D
A Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) Reveals the Structure of Sex Determining Regions.
Front Genet. 2021;12:796211. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.796211. Epub 2021 Dec 8
Wang C,Lu B,Li T,Liang G,Xu M,Liu X,Tao W,Zhou L,Kocher TD,Wang D
Nile Tilapia: A Model for Studying Teleost Color Patterns.
J Hered. 2021 Aug 25;112(5):469-484. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab018. Epub
Zheng S,Shao F,Tao W,Liu Z,Long J,Wang X,Zhang S,Zhao Q,Carleton KL,Kocher TD,Jin L,Wang Z,Peng Z,Wang D,Zhang Y
Chromosome-level assembly of southern catfish (silurus meridionalis) provides insights into visual adaptation to nocturnal and benthic lifestyles.
Mol Ecol Resour. 2021 Jul;21(5):1575-1592. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13338. Epub 2021 May 12
Zhang S,Xie L,Zheng S,Lu B,Tao W,Wang X,Kocher TD,Zhou L,Wang D
Identification, Expression and Evolution of Short-Chain Dehydrogenases/Reductases in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Apr 18;22(8):. doi: 10.3390/ijms22084201. Epub 2021 Apr 18