microbial mats. His qualities of enthusiastic researcher
stimulated many students and researchers who pursued
his study of microbial mats including extreme conditions
of salinity (Cohen et al. 1977).
– Robert E. Hungate (1906–2004) was a pioneer of anaerobic microbial ecology. After studying at the University of
Washington and then Stanford, he was the first doctoral
student of Cornelius Van Niel. In 1935, he joined the
laboratory of zoology, University of Texas, as a teacher
and devoted himself to the study of fermentative bacteria
that degrade cellulose. He initiated sophisticated methods
and practices (Hungate tubes; see Sect. 17.8.2) to successfully isolate oxygen-sensitive anaerobic bacteria, fermentative bacteria, and especially methanogenic
bacteria. He became interested in the termite gut and
rumen of cattle. He was able to demonstrate the operation
of anaerobic rumen bacterial communities and isolated
syntrophic bacteria in total interdependence in the rumen.
He could well describe the fermentative microbial
communities and rumen methanogens which thus became
the first fully characterized microbial ecosystem. His
works on the rumen microbial ecology have been assembled into a book (The Rumen and Its Microbes: Hungate
1966) which brought a significant understanding of this
unique ecosystem. With many students and collaborators,
he developed the concept of the complete study of an
ecosystem that requires not only knowledge of bacteria
and their interactions but also a quantification of their
synergistic activities.
– Ralph S. Wolfe (1921–) was educated at the University of
Pennsylvania (United States) until his doctorate in 1953.
After following the teachings of Cornelius Van Niel, he
joined the University of Illinois as a professor where he
has been professor emeritus since 1991. It was at the
origin of physiological and biochemical studies of
methanogenic bacteria and their role in anoxic environments and fermenters.
In France, following the work of Sergei Winogradsky, a
school of soil microbiology developed at the Annex BrieComte-Robert of the Pasteur Institute. Professors J. Pochon,
H. Barjac, and P. Tardieux developed their studies on soil
microbiology including bacteria involved in the nitrogen
cycle. They contributed to a better understanding of soil
bacteria including their isolation from soil in two books:
Traite ´ de microbiologie du sol (Treaty of Soil Microbiology)
published by Dunod in 1958 (Pochon and Barjac 1958) and
Techniques d’analyses en microbiologie des sols (Technical
Analysis in Soil Microbiology) (Pochon and Tardieux 1962).
In parallel, a school of soil science and soil ecology
developed in Strasbourg and Nancy. In these laboratories,
Yvon Dommergues (director of research at CNRS) developed studies on the physiology and ecology of soil bacteria
including nitrogen-fixing bacteria. With his colleague Franc ¸ois
Mangenot, professor at the Faculty of Nancy, they wrote an
important book in soil microbiology: Ecologie microbienne du
sol (Soil Microbial Ecology) published by Masson in 1970
(Dommergues and Mangenot 1970). Under ORSTOM sponsorship, Yvon Dommergues created and directed the microbiology laboratory soil in Dakar (Senegal) in which he resumed
the study of soil microorganisms, including studying the symbiotic nitrogen fixation and isolated first Frankia of Casuarina
(Diem et al. 1983). He was very involved in the practical
applications of his discoveries and participated in the installation of a green barrier of several hundred kilometers in Africa,
using symbiotic nitrogen fixation, to stop erosion and expansion of the desert. Soil microbiology was then strongly developed in France by Rene ´ Bardin who has worked on various
aspects of nitrogen cycling in particular nitrification (Degrange
and Bardin 1995).
John Postgate has made a great contribution to the study of
sulfate-reducing bacteria for many years. After his doctoral
studies at Oxford in the 1950s, he was employed by the
Department of Chemical Research DSIR in London where
he studied the physiological role of sulfate-reducing bacteria
in corrosion. He later became professor at the University of
Sussex in England, in the Department of Microbiology, where
he studied nitrogen fixation at a biochemical level (Postgate
1998) and demonstrated the role of leghemoglobin in the
legume-Rhizobium symbiosis and established in Brighton,
United Kingdom (later moved to Norwich), an institute
specialized on nitrogen fixation. He was president of the
English Society for Microbiology (SGM) from 1984 to 1987.
Julian Davies, former chairman of the ASM worked on
the physiology of many microorganisms, especially the secondary metabolism of Streptomyces and demonstrated the
feasibility of the metagenomic approach for the synthesis of
new metabolites (Seow et al. 1997).
David Hopwood has been the driving force behind the
study of antibiotic synthesizing Streptomyces at the John
Innes Institute in Norwich. In 1985, his group described
production of the first hybrid antibiotic by genetic engineering. In 1994, he was made Knight Bachelor in the Queen’s
Birthday Honors for services to genetics and thus called Sir.
In 2002, it was his group together with the Wellcome Trust
Sanger Institute in Cambridge that published the complete
genome sequence of Streptomyces coelicolor.
In the field of microbial ecology of extreme hyper-hot
environments, we should mention the pioneering work of
Thomas D. Brock (1926–). After studies at the University of
Ohio (United States) and a Ph.D. in botany in 1952, Thomas
Brock was formed in microbiology and molecular ecology in
the research department of a company producing antibiotics.
In 1960, he was appointed professor of bacteriology at
Indiana University in 1971 and then as a professor of
20
P. Caumette et al.
stimulated many students and researchers who pursued
his study of microbial mats including extreme conditions
of salinity (Cohen et al. 1977).
– Robert E. Hungate (1906–2004) was a pioneer of anaerobic microbial ecology. After studying at the University of
Washington and then Stanford, he was the first doctoral
student of Cornelius Van Niel. In 1935, he joined the
laboratory of zoology, University of Texas, as a teacher
and devoted himself to the study of fermentative bacteria
that degrade cellulose. He initiated sophisticated methods
and practices (Hungate tubes; see Sect. 17.8.2) to successfully isolate oxygen-sensitive anaerobic bacteria, fermentative bacteria, and especially methanogenic
bacteria. He became interested in the termite gut and
rumen of cattle. He was able to demonstrate the operation
of anaerobic rumen bacterial communities and isolated
syntrophic bacteria in total interdependence in the rumen.
He could well describe the fermentative microbial
communities and rumen methanogens which thus became
the first fully characterized microbial ecosystem. His
works on the rumen microbial ecology have been assembled into a book (The Rumen and Its Microbes: Hungate
1966) which brought a significant understanding of this
unique ecosystem. With many students and collaborators,
he developed the concept of the complete study of an
ecosystem that requires not only knowledge of bacteria
and their interactions but also a quantification of their
synergistic activities.
– Ralph S. Wolfe (1921–) was educated at the University of
Pennsylvania (United States) until his doctorate in 1953.
After following the teachings of Cornelius Van Niel, he
joined the University of Illinois as a professor where he
has been professor emeritus since 1991. It was at the
origin of physiological and biochemical studies of
methanogenic bacteria and their role in anoxic environments and fermenters.
In France, following the work of Sergei Winogradsky, a
school of soil microbiology developed at the Annex BrieComte-Robert of the Pasteur Institute. Professors J. Pochon,
H. Barjac, and P. Tardieux developed their studies on soil
microbiology including bacteria involved in the nitrogen
cycle. They contributed to a better understanding of soil
bacteria including their isolation from soil in two books:
Traite ´ de microbiologie du sol (Treaty of Soil Microbiology)
published by Dunod in 1958 (Pochon and Barjac 1958) and
Techniques d’analyses en microbiologie des sols (Technical
Analysis in Soil Microbiology) (Pochon and Tardieux 1962).
In parallel, a school of soil science and soil ecology
developed in Strasbourg and Nancy. In these laboratories,
Yvon Dommergues (director of research at CNRS) developed studies on the physiology and ecology of soil bacteria
including nitrogen-fixing bacteria. With his colleague Franc ¸ois
Mangenot, professor at the Faculty of Nancy, they wrote an
important book in soil microbiology: Ecologie microbienne du
sol (Soil Microbial Ecology) published by Masson in 1970
(Dommergues and Mangenot 1970). Under ORSTOM sponsorship, Yvon Dommergues created and directed the microbiology laboratory soil in Dakar (Senegal) in which he resumed
the study of soil microorganisms, including studying the symbiotic nitrogen fixation and isolated first Frankia of Casuarina
(Diem et al. 1983). He was very involved in the practical
applications of his discoveries and participated in the installation of a green barrier of several hundred kilometers in Africa,
using symbiotic nitrogen fixation, to stop erosion and expansion of the desert. Soil microbiology was then strongly developed in France by Rene ´ Bardin who has worked on various
aspects of nitrogen cycling in particular nitrification (Degrange
and Bardin 1995).
John Postgate has made a great contribution to the study of
sulfate-reducing bacteria for many years. After his doctoral
studies at Oxford in the 1950s, he was employed by the
Department of Chemical Research DSIR in London where
he studied the physiological role of sulfate-reducing bacteria
in corrosion. He later became professor at the University of
Sussex in England, in the Department of Microbiology, where
he studied nitrogen fixation at a biochemical level (Postgate
1998) and demonstrated the role of leghemoglobin in the
legume-Rhizobium symbiosis and established in Brighton,
United Kingdom (later moved to Norwich), an institute
specialized on nitrogen fixation. He was president of the
English Society for Microbiology (SGM) from 1984 to 1987.
Julian Davies, former chairman of the ASM worked on
the physiology of many microorganisms, especially the secondary metabolism of Streptomyces and demonstrated the
feasibility of the metagenomic approach for the synthesis of
new metabolites (Seow et al. 1997).
David Hopwood has been the driving force behind the
study of antibiotic synthesizing Streptomyces at the John
Innes Institute in Norwich. In 1985, his group described
production of the first hybrid antibiotic by genetic engineering. In 1994, he was made Knight Bachelor in the Queen’s
Birthday Honors for services to genetics and thus called Sir.
In 2002, it was his group together with the Wellcome Trust
Sanger Institute in Cambridge that published the complete
genome sequence of Streptomyces coelicolor.
In the field of microbial ecology of extreme hyper-hot
environments, we should mention the pioneering work of
Thomas D. Brock (1926–). After studies at the University of
Ohio (United States) and a Ph.D. in botany in 1952, Thomas
Brock was formed in microbiology and molecular ecology in
the research department of a company producing antibiotics.
In 1960, he was appointed professor of bacteriology at
Indiana University in 1971 and then as a professor of
20
P. Caumette et al.