Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Country boy to scientist

  • Personal Perspective
  • Published:
Photosynthesis Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This account is focused upon the early part of my career in order to illuminate the logistics and the culture of our science in the period 1936 to 1949. A roundabout path took me from a farm in Pennsylvania to a PhD under George Burr at Minnesota in 1939. In studying the photosynthetic competence of chlorophyll formed by the green alga Chlorella in darkness, I stumbled upon the phenomenon of photoinhibition. In a two-year postdoctorate at the Smithsonian Institution, I worked under E.D. McAlister. Our major accomplishment was in making simultaneous recordings of fluorescence and CO2 uptake during the induction period. Variations in photosynthetic behavior of Chlorella led to a study of culture conditions and a recognition of the changing conditions which occur in batch cultures. A continuous culture apparatus (turbidostat) was developed as a means of attaining steady-state growth and production of uniform experimental material. I exploited the device in work at my first (and only) position at The University of Texas in 1941 and subsequent years. Study of the CO2/O2 gas exchange ratio led to the recognition of the important role of nitrate in the photosynthetic metabolism of algae. The account ends with the 1949 American Association for the Advancement of Science symposium.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Beijerinck MW (1890) Culturversuche mit Zoochlorellen, Lichengonidien und anderen niederen Algen. Bot Zeit 48: 724–771; 781–785.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson AA, Calvin M, Haas VA, Aronoff S, Hall AG, Bassham JA and Weigl JW (1949) C14 in photosynthesis. In: Franck J and Loomis WE (eds) Photosynthesis in Plants, pp 381–401. Iowa State College Press, Ames, IA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown AH, Fager EW and Faffron H (1949) Kinetics of a photochemical intermediate in photosynthesis. In: Franck J and Loomis WE (eds) Photosynthesis in Plants, pp 403–422. Iowa State College Press, Ames, IA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheniae GM and Martin IF (1973) Absence of oxygen-evolving capacity in dark-grown Chlorella: The photoactivation of oxygen-evolving centers. Photochem Photobiol 17: 441–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emerson R and Arnold W (1932) The photochemical reaction in photosynthesis. J Gen Physiol 16: 191–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emerson R and Lewis CM (1939) Factors influencing the efficiency of photosynthesis. Am J Bot 26: 808–822.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franck J (1949) The relation of the fluorescence of chlorophyll to photosynthesis. In: Franck J and Loomis WE (eds) Photosynthesis in Plants, pp 293–348. Iowa State College Press, Ames, IA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franck J and French CS (1941) Photoxidation processes in plants. J Gen Physiol 25: 309–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Govindjee (1995) Sixty-three years since Kautsky: Chlorophyll a fluorescence. Aust J Plant Physiol 22: 131–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogness TR, Zscheile FP and Sidwell AE (1937) Photoelectric spectrophotometry. J Phys Chem 41: 374–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holt AS and French CS (1949) The photochemical liberation of oxygen from water by isolated chloroplasts. In: Franck J and Loomis WE (eds) Photosynthesis in Plants, pp 277–285. Iowa State College Press, Ames, IA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoover WH, Johnston ES and Bracket FS (1933) Carbon dioxide assimilation in a higher plant. Smithsonian Misc Collections 87 (16): 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kautsky H and Hormuth R (1937) Die Abhendigkeit des Verlauts der Fluoreszenzkurven grüner Blätter vom Sauerstoffdruck. Biochem Z 291: 285–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kok B (1956) On the inhibition of photosynthesis by intense light. Biochim Biophys Acta 21: 234–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kortschak HP, hart CE and Burr GO (1965) Carbon dioxide fixation in sugar cane leaves. Plant Physiol 40: 204–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning WM, Stauffer JF, Duggar BM and Daniels F (1938) Quantum efficiency of photosynthesis in Chlorella. J Am Chem Soc 60: 266–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAlister ED and Myers J (1940a) The time course of photosynthesis and fluorescence observed simultaneously. Smithsonian Misc Collections 99 (6): 1–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAlister ED and Myers J (1940b) Time course of photosynthesis and fluorescence. Science 92: 241–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers J (1940a) Studies on the Spirilleae. J Bacteriol 40: 705–720.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers J (1940b) A study of the pigments produced in darkness by certain green algae. Plant Physiol 15: 575–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers J (1949) The pattern of photosynthesis in Chlorella. In: Franck J and Loomis WE (eds) Photosynthesis in Plants, pp 349–363. Iowa State College Press, Ames, IA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers J and Burr GO (1940) Some effects of high light intensity on Chlorella. J Gen Physiol 24: 45–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers J and Clark LB (1944) An apparatus for the continuous culture of Chlorella. J Gen Physiol 28: 103–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers J and Johnston JA (1949) Carbon and nitrogen balance of Chlorella during growth. Plant Physiol 24: 111–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novick and Szilard (1950) Description of the chemostat. Science 112: 715–716.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoehr HA (1926) Photosynthesis, p 91. Chemical Catalog Co., New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoehr HA and Milner HW (1949) The chemical composition of Chlorella: effect of environmental conditions. Plant Physiol 24: 120–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tswett M (1906) Adsorptionsanalyse und chromatographische Methode. Anwendung auf die Chemie des Chlorophylls. Ber Deutsch Bot Ges 24: 384–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turpin DH, Rivoal J, Dunford R, Plaxton WC and Huppe HC (1995) Interaction of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in photosynthetic cells: clues from unicellular algae. In: Mathis P (ed) Photosynthesis: From Light to Biosphere, Vol V, pp 353–358. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • vanNiel CB (1949) The comparative biochemistry of photosynthesis: In: Franck J and Loomis WE (eds) Photosynthesis in Plants, pp 437–495. Iowa State College Press, Ames, IA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warburg O (1919) Uber die Geschwindigkeit der photochemischen Kohlensäurezersetsung in lebenden Zellen. Biochem Z 100: 230–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zscheile FP (1934) An improved method for the purification of chlorophylls A and B; quantitative measurement of their absorption spectra: evidence for the existence of a third component of chlorophyll. Bot Gaz 45: 524–563.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Texas, 78712-1064, Austin, TX, USA

    Jack Myers

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Texas, 78712-1064, Austin, TX, USA

    Jack Myers

Authors
  1. Jack Myers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Invited and edited by Govindjee

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Myers, J. Country boy to scientist. Photosynth Res 50, 195–208 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00033119

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00033119

Key words

Search

Navigation