Recollections of Thomas John Wydrzynski

In appreciation of his contribution to the Photosystsem II research and commemoration of the book Photosystem II: The Light-Driven Water-Plastoquinone Oxido-Reductase, co-edited with Kimiyuki Satoh, I present here some of my recollections of Thomas John Wydrzynski and by several others with whom he has associated over the years at Urbana (Illinois), Berkeley (California), Standard Oil Company-Indiana (Illinois), Berlin (Germany), Gothenburg (Sweden), and Canberra (Australia). We not only recognize him for his unique career path in Photosystem II research, but also for his qualities as a collaborative scientist working on the only system on Earth that has the ability to oxidize water to molecular oxygen using the energy of sunlight.     

A sixty-year tryst with photosynthesis and related processes: an informal personal perspective

Photosynthesis Research - After briefly describing my early collaborative work at the University of Allahabad, that had laid the foundation of my research life, I present here some of our research...     

Last days in the old radiation laboratory (ORL), Berkeley,California, 1954

Govindjee, the founding editor of the Historical Corner of Photosynthesis Research, invited me 3 years ago to tell the story of why I left Melvin Calvin’s laboratory in the mid 1950s long before the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Calvin for the path of carbon in photosynthesis. I have already written my scientific perspective on this topic (see Benson (Photosynth Res 73:29–49, 2002); also see Bassham (Photosynth Res 76:35–52, 2003) as he was also a major player in this research). Here, I present my recollections of my last days in the old radiation laboratory (ORL) at Berkeley, California. References have been added by Govindjee for the benefit of the readers.     

My precarious career in photosynthesis: a roller-coaster journey into the fascinating world of chloroplast ultrastructure,composition, function and dysfunction

Photosynthesis Research - Despite my humble beginnings in rural China, I had the good fortune of advancing my career and joining an international community of photosynthesis researchers to work on...     

Responses of transgenic maize hybrids to variant western corn rootworm larval injury

Abstract:  In 2005 and 2006, transgenic insecticidal maize hybrids (YieldGard Rootworm, MON 863, Cry3Bb1, Vector ZMIR 13L) were evaluated for their ability to limit root injury caused by western corn rootworm ( Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) larval feeding. Hybrids in each year of the experiment were planted in plots that had been devoted to a trap crop (late-planted maize interplanted with pumpkins) the previous growing season. All maize hybrids were provided by Monsanto Company and the genetic backgrounds remain unknown to the investigators. In 2005, the experiment was conducted in Urbana, Illinois. Urbana is located in east central Illinois, an area of the state in which a variant of the western corn rootworm has overcome the pest management benefits of crop rotation. Variation in root injury was noted across the maize hybrids in 2005 and the level of pruning increased from 20 July to 9 August for most hybrids. In 2006, the experiment was conducted in two locations, Monmouth and Urbana, Illinois. Monmouth is located in north-western Illinois and is within an area of the state in which densities of the variant of the western corn rootworm are lower than in east-central Illinois. In 2006, variation in root protection was again observed across the maize hybrids. Root injury differences among the hybrids were more prominent at the Urbana site. Similar to the previous year, root injury increased from the third week in July to the first week of August at both locations with this increase most noticeable at the Urbana location. We hypothesize that the variant western corn rootworm may be able to inflict more root injury to these transgenic insecticidal maize hybrids than the non-variant population of this species.     

Some problems of data for the demographic study of immigration and of immigrant and minority populations in Britain

Dianne M. Pinderhughes, RACE AND ETHNICITY IN CHICAGO POLITICS: A REEXAMINATION OF PLURALIST THEORY, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. xix + 319 pp. $29.95

Lawrence J. McCaffrey, Ellen Skerrett, Michael F. Funchion and Charles Fanning, THE IRISH IN CHICAGO, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. xii + 171 pp. $19.95

Stow Persons, ETHNIC STUDIES AT CHICAGO 1905–1945, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. 159 pp. $19.95.     

My journey in photosynthesis research

Photosynthesis Research - At the invitation of Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev, I provide here a brief autobiography for this special issue that recognizes my service and research for the larger...     

Govindjee,an institution,at his 80th (really 81st) birthday in Třeboň in October, 2013: a pictorial essay

Govindjee (one name only), who himself is an institution, has been recognized and honored by many in the past for he is a true ambassador of “Photosynthesis Research” to the World. He has been called “Mr. Photosynthesis”, and compared to the Great Wall of China. To us in T?eboň, he has been a great research collaborator in our understanding of chlorophyll a fluorescence in algae and in cyanobacteria, and more than that a friend of the Czech “Photosynthesis” group, from the time of Ivan ?etlík (1928–2009) and of Zdeněk ?esták (1932–2008). Govindjee’s 80th (really 81st) birthday was celebrated by the Institute of Microbiology, Laboratory of Photosynthesis, by toasting him with an appropriate drink of a suspension of green algae grown at the institute itself. After my presentation, on October 23, 2013, of Govindjee’s contributions to photosynthesis, and his intimate association with the photosynthetikers (in Jack Myers’s words) of the Czech Republic, Govindjee gave us his story of how he began research in photosynthesis in the late 1950s. This was followed by a talk on October 25 by him on “Photosynthesis: Stories of the Past.” Everyone enjoyed his animated talk—it was full of life and enjoyment. Here, I present a brief pictorial essay on Govindjee at his 80th (really 81st) birthday in T?eboň during October 23–25, 2013.     

Roderick K. Clayton: a life,and some personal recollections

Roderick K. Clayton passed away on October 23, 2011, at the age of 89, shortly after the plan for this dedicatory issue of Photosynthesis Research had been hatched. I had just written a lengthy letter to him to re-establish contact after a hiatus of 2 or 3 years, and to suggest that I visit him to talk about his life. It isn’t clear whether he saw the letter or not, but it was found at his home in Santa Rosa, California. Fortunately, Rod has written two memoirs for Photosynthesis Research that not only cover much of his research on reaction centers (Photosynth Res 73:63–71, 2002) but also provide a humorous and honest look at his personal life (Photosynth Res 19:207–224, 1988). I cannot hope to improve on these and will try, instead, to fill in some of the gaps that Rod’s own writing has left, and offer some of my own personal recollections over the more recent years.     

A list of personal perspectives with selected quotations,along with lists of tributes,historical notes,Nobel and Kettering awards related to photosynthesis

The history of photosynthesis research can be found in original papers and books. However, a special history is available from the prefatory chapters and the personal perspectives of various researchers who published them in several journals over the last 40 years. We have compiled a list of such perspectives published since 1964. Selection is not easy, especially of authors who were not directly engaged in photosynthesis research; some are included for their special insights related to central issues in the study of photosynthesis. Our journal, Photosynthesis Research, contains other valuable historic data in the occasional tributes, obituaries and historical notes, that have been published. Lists of these items are included. This article ends by listing the Nobel prizes related to photosynthesis and the Kettering Awards for Excellence in Photosynthesis Research. Wherever possible, a web page address is provided. The web page addresses have been taken from the article `Photosynthesis and the Web: 2001' by Larry Orr and Govindjee, available at http://www.life.uiuc.edu/govindjee/photoweb and at http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/ photoweb/default.html. ‘When I find a bit of leisure I trifle with my papers. This is one of the lesser frailities. – Horace, Satires I, IV. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

THE THREE G's Meeting the Invertebrate Cell Culture Pioneers: Goldschmidt, Gaw, and Grace

It was my good fortune to meet personally the three invertebrate cell culture pioneers,Richard Goldschmidt,Zan-Yin Gaw,and Thomas D.C.Grace (Fig.1).In 1951 I met Goldschmidt at a symposium in Cold Spring Harbor,but I only knew that he was a prominent geneticist.I had no idea about his insect cell culture work at Yale University and daily contacts with Ross G.Harrison.In 1959 Zan Yin Gaw in Wuhan successfully cultured monolayers of silkworm cells for more than one year.I reported his breakthrough achievement at the 11th International Congress of Entomology in Vienna in 1960,but his work was completely ignored outside China.In 1982 Gaw invited me to Wuhan where he told me that he studied in the United States in the 1930s,working as postdoctoral scientist at the Rockefeller Institute,where he was daily meeting William Trager,and later at Yale University in the Osborn Laboratory,where he was inspired by Harrison.T.D.C.Grace worked in my laboratory at Rockefeller University during 1957 and 1958,then returned to CSIRO in Canberra,Australia.     

Uptake of sulphur-35 by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae

Summary Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae on red clover and maize absorbed S³⁵ at higher rates than did comparable nonmycorrhizal roots.Former Research Assistant and Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, respectively.     

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON STEPHANOSPERMUM OVOIDES,A MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN SEED

Taylor , Thomas N. (U. Illinois, Urbana.) Additional observations on Stephanospermum ovoides, a Middle Pennsylvanian seed. Amer. Jour. Bot. 49(7): 794–800. Illus. 1962.—Recently additional specimens of Stephanospermum ovoides have been discovered in coal-ball material collected at the New Delta Mine, Absher, Williamson County, Illinois. Stephanospermum ovoides is a radially symmetrical ovoid seed, characterized by a low sclerotestal crown and micropylar beak. The species stands intermediate in relation to other members in the genus in its sclerotestal elaboration, which is assumed to be reflected in the size of the crown and mieropylar beak.     

Out in the Field: Reflections of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists

Out in the Field: Reflections of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists. Ellen Lewin and William L. Leap. eds. Urbana University of Illinois Press, 1996.315 pp.     

Reminiscences,collaborations and reflections

This is a personal account by a semi old-timer who completed his official term as a professor of plant biochemistry at Nagoya University in Japan in 1992. My university student life began soon after the World War II (1948). I shared the hardships of many in my age group, in that life was difficult during my college years. I was fortunate to have the opportunity of studying in the USA on a Fulbright scholarship first at Purdue University (1955–1956), and then at the University of California, Berkeley (1956–1957). My graduate study and postdoctoral training in the new world were vitally refreshing and stimulating, which gave me the impetus for becoming a natural scientist associated with academic institutions. Consciously and subconsciously I was impressed by the friendly and liberal atmosphere surrounding young students as well as senior scholars in the United States. But more importantly, I was inspired by the critical and competitive minds prevailing among these people.The appointment as a biochemist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines (1962–1964) was the real start of my professional career. The work was continued upon my return to Nagoya to become a staff member of the Research Institute for Biochemical Regulation (1964–1992). Throughout the years, my major research interest has covered photosynthesis as a whole, involving photosynthetic CO₂-fixation (RuBisCO), carbohydrate metabolism, e.g. starch biosynthesis and breakdown (-amylase), and metabolic regulation, which are interrelated in the basic metabolism of plant cells.I shall briefly describe in this article highlights from my studies and discoveries made and I shall also discuss their possible significance in plant metabolism, with the hope that it does not contradict my sense of humility: They are (a) discovery of ADPG in plants and its role in starch biosynthesis; (b) structure-function relationship of RuBisCO proteins, in particular on heterologous recombination of their subunits of plant-type enzyme molecules derived from the prokaryotic photosynthetic bacteria; (c) molecular evolution of RuBisCO genes; (d) mode of actions (formation, intracellular transport and secretion) of rice seed -amylase and its structural characteristics (distinctive glycosylation), and (e) DNA methylation and regulatory mechanism of photosynthesis gene expression in plastids (amyloplasts). In each step of my research, I shared joy, excitement, disappointment, and agony with my colleagues, an experience that may be common to all researchers. Although it is now becoming well recognized among the scientific community in Japan, I want to point out that interaction of multinational scientific minds in the laboratory produces a vital and creative atmosphere for performance of successful research. I experienced and realized this important fact in my earlier days in the USA and the Philippines. Inasmuch as I believe that this is the most crucial element for any research laboratory to possess, I fondly remember the friendships gained with numerous overseas visitors and collaborators who have contributed immensely to our work.Written at the invitation of Govindjee.     

From Racism to Genocide: Anthropology in the Third Reich

From Racism to Genocide: Anthropology in the Third Reich . Gretchen E. Schafft. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004. 297 pp.     

Coming of Age in Post-Soviet Russia

Coming of Age in Post-Soviet Russia. Fran Markowitz. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000. 245 pp.     

From δ-aminolevulinic acid to chlorophylls and every step in between: in memory of Constantin (Tino) A. Rebeiz, 1936–2019

Photosynthesis Research - Constantin A. (Tino) Rebeiz, a pioneer in the field of chlorophyll biosynthesis, and a longtime member of the University of Illinois community of plant biologists, passed...     

(M,R)-systems, (P,M,C)-nets, hierarchical decay, and biological aging: reminiscences of Robert Rosen

I have the pleasure to present a number of personal experiences that I had with Robert Rosen, both as his student and as a research colleague, and I will describe how this affected my academic career over the past decades. As a matter of fact, Rosen's work with (M,R)-systems as well as his continuing mentorship guided me into my own research in gerontology and geriatrics. Amazingly, this still continues to affect my work in complexity theory after 30 years.     

Makiko's New World

Makiko's New World. 1999. 57 minutes, color. film by the Media Production Group of the Asian Educational Media Service, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Distributed by Documentary Educational Resources, 101 Morse Street, Water town, MA 02472.