Heinrich Anton de Bary facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Heinrich Anton de Bary
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| Born | 26 January 1831 |
| Died | 19 January 1888 (aged 56) Strasbourg, France (then Germany)
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| Education | Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Marburg, Berlin |
| Occupation | surgeon, botanist, mycologist |
| Known for | demonstrating life cycle of fungi; study of plant diseases; coining the term "symbiosis" |
| Spouse(s) | Antonie Einert |
| Children | 4 |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Tübingen, University of Halle, University of Strasbourg, |
| Influences | Hugo von Mohl |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | de Bary |
Heinrich Anton de Bary was a German scientist born on January 26, 1831. He was a surgeon, a botanist (someone who studies plants), a microbiologist (someone who studies tiny living things), and a mycologist (someone who studies fungi). He is known as a founder of plant pathology, which is the study of plant diseases. He also helped create modern mycology, the study of fungi. De Bary carefully studied the life cycle of fungi. His work helped us understand algae and other plants much better.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Anton de Bary was born in Frankfurt, Germany. His father, August Theodor de Bary, was a doctor. Anton was one of ten children in his family. From a young age, he joined naturalists on trips to collect plants and animals.
His interest in nature grew thanks to Georg Fresenius, a doctor and botany teacher. Fresenius was an expert on thallophytes, which are simple plants like algae and fungi. In 1848, de Bary finished high school in Frankfurt. He then started studying medicine at Heidelberg University. He continued his studies at the University of Marburg.
In 1850, he moved to Humboldt University of Berlin to keep studying medicine. But he also spent a lot of time learning about plants. Even though he earned a medical degree, his final project in 1853 was about plants. He also wrote a book about fungi and plant diseases like rusts and smuts.
Early Career in Botany
After finishing his studies, de Bary worked as a doctor for a short time in Frankfurt. However, he soon returned to his passion: botany. He became a private lecturer in botany at the University of Tübingen. There, he worked with Hugo von Mohl, another famous botanist.
In 1855, de Bary took over from botanist Carl Nägeli at the University of Freiburg. He created a very advanced plant laboratory there. Many students came to learn from him at this lab.
Later Career and Discoveries
In 1867, de Bary moved to the University of Halle. He became a professor there. He also became an editor of an important plant science journal called Botanische Zeitung. Later, he became its only editor. His work with this journal greatly influenced how botany developed.
After the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), de Bary became a professor at the University of Strasbourg. He directed the university's botanical garden and started a new garden. He was also chosen as the first leader of the reorganized university. He did a lot of research in the university's plant institute. Many students from around the world came to study with him.
His book from 1884, Vergleichende Morphologie und Biologie der Pilze, Mycetozoen und Bakterien, was translated into English. Its English title was Comparative Morphology and Biology of the Fungi, Mycetozoa, and Bacteria.
Fungi and Plant Diseases
De Bary spent much of his time studying the life cycle of fungi. At that time, many people thought that some fungi just appeared out of nowhere. But de Bary proved that fungi that cause diseases were like other plants. They did not just come from sick cells.
During de Bary's time, a disease called potato late blight caused huge crop damage. No one knew what caused plant diseases like this. De Bary studied the germ that caused it, called Phytophthora infestans. He figured out its entire life cycle.
Another scientist, Miles Joseph Berkeley, had said in 1841 that a type of fungus caused potato blight. De Bary also showed that rust and smut fungi caused changes in diseased plants. He proved that these fungi were parasites, meaning they lived off other plants.
De Bary also studied the shapes of fungi. He noticed that some forms, which people thought were different species, were actually just different stages of the same organism. He studied slime molds and suggested they should be reclassified. He created the word Mycetozoa for lower animals and slime molds.
In his work on slime molds (1858), he noted that at one stage, they were like shapeless, moving blobs. This blob was made of a substance called protoplasm. This idea helped form the basic understanding of how living things are made of protoplasm.
De Bary was the first to show how fungi reproduce. In 1858, he saw how a type of alga, Spirogyra, reproduced. In 1861, he described how a fungus called Peronospora reproduced sexually. He understood how important it was to watch disease-causing germs through their whole life cycle.
Potato Blight Studies
De Bary published his first work on potato blight fungi in 1861. He then spent more than 15 years studying fungi that attacked potatoes. These included Phytophthora infestans and Cystopus.
In his 1863 work, he reported putting spores of P. infestans on healthy potato leaves. He saw that the fungus grew into the leaf and harmed the plant. It formed black spots, which are typical of potato blight. He did similar tests on potato tubers (the potatoes themselves) and stalks. He watched how spores in the soil infected the tubers. He saw that the fungus could survive the cold winter inside the tubers. These studies proved that these organisms were not just appearing on their own.
Wheat Rust Discoveries
He also did a deep study on Puccinia graminis, the fungus that causes rust in wheat and other grains. He noticed that this fungus made reddish summer spores and darker winter spores. He put spores from the winter spores onto the leaves of barberry plants. The spores grew, causing yellow spots on the barberry.
Then, de Bary took spores from the barberry and put them on young rye plants. After some time, he saw the reddish summer spores appear on the rye leaves. This showed that the fungus needed different plants at different stages of its life. He called this "heteroecism". If a fungus only needed one host, he called it "autoecism". De Bary's discovery explained why removing barberry plants helped control wheat rust.
Lichen and Symbiosis
De Bary also studied lichens. Lichens are formed when a fungus and an alga live together. He followed their growth and reproduction. He showed how they adapted to survive dry and cold conditions.
In 1879, he created the word "symbiosis". This word means "the living together of unlike organisms." He used it in his publication "Die Erscheinung der Symbiose." He carefully studied the shapes of molds, yeasts, and other fungi. His work truly made mycology a separate science.
Influence and Legacy
De Bary's ideas and methods had a big impact on the study of tiny living things and plants. He became one of the most important scientists of the 1800s. He published over 100 research papers. Many of his students later became famous botanists and microbiologists. These included Sergei Winogradsky, William Gilson Farlow, and Pierre-Marie-Alexis Millardet.
Personal Life and Death
Anton de Bary married Antonie Einert in 1861. They had four children together. He passed away on January 19, 1888, in Strasbourg, after dealing with health issues.
See also
In Spanish: Anton de Bary para niños
- List of mycologists
- Wm. Theodore de Bary, American sinologist, a great-nephew
