name only a few, he was chairman of the German National Committee for the
International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), he was member of the Executive Committee of IUBS, he was secretary of the Division of Botany and Microbiology, and finally, he was president of the 14th International Botanical Congress
1987 in Berlin. He received awards from several societies. For example, he got the
ONR Award of the Society of Industrial Microbiology USA, and he was a fellow of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American
Academy of Microbiology, and the Society of Industrial Microbiology (SIM,
USA). Further, he became honorary member of the Polish and the German
Botanical Society, and he received the Docteur honoris causa of the Universite ´
d’Orleans, the Universite ´ de Toulouse, and the Universite ´ de Lille, all in France.
His scientific work focused in general on the genetics of plants and fungi. He
was trained as a plant geneticist, but recognized early in his career that fungi are
ideal organisms to conduct genetics. Already in 1967, he published a textbook
entitled Genetics of Fungi, which was for long main literature for his students. In
Germany, he was a pioneer of fungal genetics, and he was very highly influential
for this discipline. Using filamentous fungi as his main model organisms, he
investigated two basic phenomena of biology. In 1958, he set up a system to study
fruit body development in fungi using the ascomycete Sordaria macrospora. In
the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he focused his research work on senescence,
using the ascomycete Podospora anserina. In 1985, this research was honored
through the SANDOZ Prize for Gerontological Research. He was one of the first
who detected plasmids in higher fungi, and his group published one of the first
papers on the DNA-mediated transformation of filamentous fungi. As an academic teacher, he wrote a very much recognized textbook, where he compared the
lifecycle, morphology, and genetics of algae and fungi. The German book entitled
Kryptogamen was later translated into English and was published by Cambridge
University Press in 1982. Karl Esser has a long and distinguished academic career
in mycology and was always interested in combining basic with applied research.
From this, it follows that his group conducted a lot of projects with filamentous
fungi that are important for industrial microbiology.
The research of Karl Esser had a great impact on the scientific careers of many
of his students. Thus, many of the internationally recognized projects led by his
students have their origin in the laboratory of Karl Esser. To name a few, these are
genetics of industrial yeasts (Stahl, Berlin), killer plasmids in yeasts (Meinhardt,
Mu ¨nster), genetics of Claviceps purpurea, the producer of the ergot alkaloids
(Tudzynski, Mu ¨nster), senescence in Podospora anserina (Osiewacz, Frankfurt),
genetics of mitochondria and transposons in fungi (Kempken, Kiel), fungal
genomics (Nowrousian, Bochum), autophagy (Po ¨ggeler, Go ¨ttingen), fungal cell
biology and RNA editing (Teichert, Bochum), and sexual development and
secondary metabolism (Ku ¨ck, Bochum).
Ulrich Ku ¨ck, Frank Kempken, Friedhelm Meinhardt, Minou Nowrousian,
Heinz-Dieter Osiewacz, Stefanie Po ¨ggeler, Ines Teichert, and Paul Tudzynski
xii
Obituary: Karl Esser 1924–2019
International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), he was member of the Executive Committee of IUBS, he was secretary of the Division of Botany and Microbiology, and finally, he was president of the 14th International Botanical Congress
1987 in Berlin. He received awards from several societies. For example, he got the
ONR Award of the Society of Industrial Microbiology USA, and he was a fellow of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American
Academy of Microbiology, and the Society of Industrial Microbiology (SIM,
USA). Further, he became honorary member of the Polish and the German
Botanical Society, and he received the Docteur honoris causa of the Universite ´
d’Orleans, the Universite ´ de Toulouse, and the Universite ´ de Lille, all in France.
His scientific work focused in general on the genetics of plants and fungi. He
was trained as a plant geneticist, but recognized early in his career that fungi are
ideal organisms to conduct genetics. Already in 1967, he published a textbook
entitled Genetics of Fungi, which was for long main literature for his students. In
Germany, he was a pioneer of fungal genetics, and he was very highly influential
for this discipline. Using filamentous fungi as his main model organisms, he
investigated two basic phenomena of biology. In 1958, he set up a system to study
fruit body development in fungi using the ascomycete Sordaria macrospora. In
the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he focused his research work on senescence,
using the ascomycete Podospora anserina. In 1985, this research was honored
through the SANDOZ Prize for Gerontological Research. He was one of the first
who detected plasmids in higher fungi, and his group published one of the first
papers on the DNA-mediated transformation of filamentous fungi. As an academic teacher, he wrote a very much recognized textbook, where he compared the
lifecycle, morphology, and genetics of algae and fungi. The German book entitled
Kryptogamen was later translated into English and was published by Cambridge
University Press in 1982. Karl Esser has a long and distinguished academic career
in mycology and was always interested in combining basic with applied research.
From this, it follows that his group conducted a lot of projects with filamentous
fungi that are important for industrial microbiology.
The research of Karl Esser had a great impact on the scientific careers of many
of his students. Thus, many of the internationally recognized projects led by his
students have their origin in the laboratory of Karl Esser. To name a few, these are
genetics of industrial yeasts (Stahl, Berlin), killer plasmids in yeasts (Meinhardt,
Mu ¨nster), genetics of Claviceps purpurea, the producer of the ergot alkaloids
(Tudzynski, Mu ¨nster), senescence in Podospora anserina (Osiewacz, Frankfurt),
genetics of mitochondria and transposons in fungi (Kempken, Kiel), fungal
genomics (Nowrousian, Bochum), autophagy (Po ¨ggeler, Go ¨ttingen), fungal cell
biology and RNA editing (Teichert, Bochum), and sexual development and
secondary metabolism (Ku ¨ck, Bochum).
Ulrich Ku ¨ck, Frank Kempken, Friedhelm Meinhardt, Minou Nowrousian,
Heinz-Dieter Osiewacz, Stefanie Po ¨ggeler, Ines Teichert, and Paul Tudzynski
xii
Obituary: Karl Esser 1924–2019