Talk:John Postgate (microbiologist)

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Early Life John Raymond Postgate was born 24 June 1922, elder son of Raymond Postgate (writer) and Daisy Postgate, née Lansbury, (private secretary to her father George Lansbury (politician and sometime Labour Party leader). He had one brother, Oliver Postgate (TV film producer and green activist). His paternal grandfather was Professor John Percival Postgate (classicist) and great grandfather John Postgate FRCP, a Victorian reformer (3). Education: Attended kindergarten and primary private schools in Golders Green, North London, before moving at age 11 to Kingsbury County School whence, after a year evacuated to Devon in 1939-40, he obtained the usual certificates of education. In 1941 he gained an 'Exhibition' to Balliol College, Oxford, where he achieved a first class degree in Chemistry school. He had also taken a special biochemistry course. His final examination involved research on the adaptation of bacteria to unfavourable environments and, supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council plus a Studentship from Balliol (which the MRC promptly deducted from his grant) he spent a year reading Microbial Chemistry before doing research for a doctorate on aspects of how bacteria adapt to resist sulphonamide drugs. Personal Life: (2) In 1948 he left Oxford and married Mary Stewart (4), a graduate in English from St Hilda's College, Oxford; they had three daughters, successively Selina Anne, Lucy Belinda and Joanna Mary. Mary died of Alzheimer's disease in 2008. She had become wellknown for her reviews of spoken word recordings. Career: Chemical Research Laboratory (CRL): In 1948 he obtained a Research Fellowship at CRL, Teddington, West of greater London, to investigate the biochemistry of the sulphatereducing bacteria. A small microbiology group led by K R Butlin (4) was researching their role in iron corrosion and other civil and industrial nuisances. The group also investigated and advised on diverse problems in economic microbiology which had been brought to the laboratory. He enjoyed the practical side and also made a gamechanging advance in understanding the biochemistry of his bacteria. The group's reputation blossomed; it obtained more staff and space and widened its remit to encompass the microbiological production of sulphur and the treatment of chemical effluents; it also took over the National Collection of Industrial Bacteria. He was absorbed into its staff in 1950 as Senior Scientific Officer and promoted Principal Scientific Officer in 1952. Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE): in 1959, for controversial reasons, Butlin's group was disbanded and its staff and collection redeployed. Postgate however was released to take a post at MRE, Porton (near Salisbury), to undertake fundamental research on how bacteria survive mild stresses such as near starvation, in which area he reopened a research topic largely dormant since the 1920s; also ancillary work on freezing damage and both continuous and synchronous culture of bacteria. He was promoted Senior Principal Scientific Officer in 1961. In 1962 he was given leave to take up a Visiting Professorship of Microbiology at the University of Illinois, U.S.A., to finish off some earlier research on sulphate-reducing bacteria and undertake some teaching duties. He returned to M.R.E. in the Spring of 1963. Unit of Nitrogen Fixation (UNF) A change of emphasis in the research remit of MRE (6) led to his resignation therefrom and in 1963 he was Appointed Assistant Director of the Agricultural Research Council's newly formed multidisciplinary UNF. Its Director was Professor Joseph Chatt FRS, a chemist, and Postgate's job was to plan and direct its biological research programme. The Unit settled at the University of Sussex in late 1964. In 1965 the University appointed Postgate Professor of Microbiology in addition to his UNF position, with only postgraduate teaching duties. The Unit's biological research ranged from biochemical enzymology through microbial physiology and general microbiology to genetics. Much of it was innovative, in particular initiating a genetical approach which was adopted world-wide. Much of its research in both chemistry and microbiology was collaborative and the Unit's reputation prospered as a world centre for basic research on the subject. Postgate always worked at the bench personally, and had spent March 1977-March 1978 as Visiting Professor of Microbiology at Oregon State University, U.S.A.. He became Director when Chatt retired in 1980 and retired himself in 1987. The UNF was later absorbed by the John Innes Centre at Norwich. Other Scientific activities: As well as his FRS, he was elected Fellow of the Institute of Biology, 1965, President 1982-4. Elected Member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) 1978. He obtained a D.Sc. (Oxon) in 1965; he as awarded Hon. D.Sc. by the University of Bath, 1990, and Hon. Ll.D. by the University of Dundee, 1997. The Society for Applied Bacteriology made him an Hon. member in 1981. Appointed Royal Society Leeuwenhoek Lecturer 1992. He served on several Royal Society or Government Committees and Working Parties on diverse matters: Space Biology, the Nitrogen Cycle; Terrestrial Microbiology; Scientists' Archives, and Genetic engineering. Having been on the Council of the Society for General Microbiology since 1966, he became President 1984-7 and Hon. Member 1988. He served on the editorial board of the Journal of General Microbiology from 1960 becoming Editor in Chief 1970-74 and served on the Editorial Boards of he Royal Society's Notes and Records and Science and Public Affairs, also that of Geomicrobiology Journal. Musical activities: He was self-taught and never able to read music, but he led Oxford University Dixieland Bandits (a jazz band), on cornet 1943-8; played with Eric Conroy's Jazzmen, 1950-51, then played on irregular 'gigs'. He led Sussex Trugs (the University of Sussex staff jazz band which at one time included three Professors) 1965-87, then became a sideman until Trugs disbanded in 1999. He played fortnightly at Chiddingly, East Sussex. for over twenty years, gaining a decent following, and also with local informal groups. After the 1970s he doubled occasionally on soprano saxophone. He youthful playing may be heard on one commercial CD (7). Writings:. Scientific: Over 200 research papers, 30 'popular' articles in less specialised publications, over 50 book reviews and edited books on nitrogen fixation and microbial survival. He wrote four specialist books among which his monograph on sulphate-reducing bacteria (8) initiated world-wide research on this genus. His popular science books Microbes and Man (9) and The Outer Reaches Of Life (10); were also influential and widely translated. Politics, Society and Biography: He wrote book reviews and other writings for left-leaning periodicals in the early 1940s. Later more general articles on the population explosion, eugenics, religious bellicosity, the public understanding of Science, etc. in diverse media such as the Times, Times Literary Supplement, Financial Times and New scientist, Elected Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Press Association in 1995. Biography: Three articles on Raymond Postgate and, with Mary Postgate, his biography (11). Wrote articles on and a biography (3) of the earlier John Postgate above. Also in 2013 a semi-autobiographical account of his own life as a scientist (2). Wrote about 10 obituaries and five entries for the New Dictionary of National Biography Jazz: He wrote numerous articles, record reviews and book reviews on jazz for specialist jazz journals such as Jazz Monthly and Jazz Journal. He served on Gramophone's panel of jazz record reviewers for some 24 years. His early guide to jazz (12) filled a need at its time but is now obsolete. With Bob Weir he wrote a bio-discography of the Jazz Trumpeter Frankie Newton. References: 1. Royal Society List of Fellows; Postgate was elected in 1977 2. Microbes, Music and Me: A life in Science 2013 ISBN 978-1-86151- 100-3 3. Lethal Lozenges and Tainted Tea: A Biography of John Postgate, 1820-1881. 2001, ISBN 1 85858 178 8 4. Mary Postgate. Obituary, The Times 7 February, 2008 5. Kenneth Rupert Butlin. Dictionary of National Biography 6. The Origins of the Unit of Nitrogen Fixation at the University of Sussex. Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 1998, 52, 355-362 7. Oxford Jazz Through The Years 1926-1963, Raymer Sound (2002 ) 8. The Sulphate-reducing Bacteria, 2nd edn 1984. ISBN 0 521 25791 3 9. Microbes and Man 4th edn 2001. ISBN 0 521 66579 5 10. The Outer Reaches of Life 2nd edn 1995. ISBN 0 521 55873 5 11. A Stomach for Dissent. The Life of Raymond Postgate 1896-1971, 1994, ISBN 1 85331 084 0 12. A Plain Man's Guide To Jazz, 1973, Hanover Books, no ISBN

- I will add an edited version. Both he & I have a COI, so I will ask for independent reviews when the editing is finished. Wiki at Royal Society John (talk) 17:31, 10 May 2014 (UTC)


 * And more (hidden):

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Sulfomamide drugs had been shown by D D Woods, his supervisor, to block the enzyme assimilating the metabolite p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA for short), a precursor of folic acid, by blocking the enzymes active site. A substantial excess of a sulfonamide needed to put a complete stop to PABA assimilation (5). Postgate's research was to study sulfonamide action on a species of bacteria that required PABA from the environment as a vitamin; it gave him valuable experience of competition in enzymology.

[REVISION: To replace all of 'Career' with appropriate re-assortment of references ]

In 1948 he obtained a Research Fellowship at the Chemical Research Laboratory (CRL) in Teddington, West London, to investigate the biochemistry of the sulphate-reducing bacteria. A small microbiology group, led by K R Butlin,[8] was researching their role in iron corrosion and other civil and industrial nuisances. The group also investigated and advised on diverse problems in economic microbiology which had been brought to the laboratory. The bacteria were known to be strict anaerobes which live by converting mineral sulphates to hydrogen sulphide. They are difficult to culture and to separate from other soil bacteria in the laboratory, but Butlin's group had isolated a few pure strains. Postgate managed to culture large populations of the organism and his experience of competition informed his first paper, in which he showed that selenates are powerful competitive inhibitors of sulphate reduction (+1). He went on to obtain biochemical evidence on how they consume sulphates and carbon sources (+2), but his most influential finding was cytochome C3 (+3) (10). Cytochromes are iron-containing proteins found in the cells of all air-breathing creatures from bacteria and plants to humans; they were known to be part of the aerobic respiratory apparatus and were widely understood to be absent from anaerobes. The appearance of a cytochrome, one which had an unusually large amount of iron, in a strict anaerobe conflicted with current theory. However soon it became accepted and the concept emerged of "anaerobic respiration", based on reducing nitrate, carbonate or similar oxygen-containing minerals. Postgate's research formed the basis of world-wide research on these bacteria and their cytochromes, as well as the discovery of many new genera; sulphate reducers are now known to constitute a diverse biosphere of their own (+4). Postgate also enjoyed the Group's more practical problems His laboratory strain reduced sulphates at hitherto unheard-of rates, and their speed revived a wartime possibility of using them to manufacture sulphur for industry by fermenting waste with sulphate. This would mimic the way in which most of the world's native sulphur was deposited over geological time. A post-war World sulphur shortage was damaging post-war British industry, so he and Butlin were sent to Cyrenaica to sample a sulphur spring and check specimens for even better performance (+5). The trip caught the attention of the press, and the microbiological production of sulphur became Butlin's pet project, with Postgate advising. The group expanded and widened its remit to encompass the microbiological production of sulphur and the treatment of chemical effluents; it also took over the National Collection of Industrial Bacteria. He was absorbed into its staff in 1950 as Senior Scientific Officer and promoted Principal Scientific Officer in 1952.[9] In 1959, for controversial reasons, Butlin's group was disbanded and its staff and collection redeployed. Postgate was released to take a post at the Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE), part of the Porton Down research complex at Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, to undertake fundamental research on how bacteria survive mild stresses such as near starvation or freezing and used both continuous and synchronous culture of bacteria. . His extensive paper on the survival of starvation by klebsiella bacteria (+6) reopened a research topic largely dormant since the 1920s and introduced the concept of cryptic growth (a sort of necrophagy) in the persistence of bacterial  populations in ancient isolated environments such as salt inclusions or fossils. He was promoted Senior Principal Scientific Officer in 1961. In 1962 he was given leave to take up a Visiting Professorship of Microbiology at the University of Illinois, in the United States, to finish off some earlier research on sulphate-reducing bacteria and undertake some teaching duties. He returned to MRE in early 1963.[11] A change of emphasis in the research remit of MRE led to his resignation and in 1963 he was Appointed Assistant Director of the Agricultural Research Council's newly formed multidisciplinary Unit of Nitrogen Fixation (UNF), with the chemist Professor Joseph Chatt FRS as Director. Postgate's job was to plan and direct its biological research programme.[12] The Unit settled at the University of Sussex in late 1964, and in 1965 the University appointed Postgate Professor of Microbiology in addition to his UNF position, with only postgraduate teaching duties. The Unit's biological research was restricted to free-living nitrogen fixers, chosen as more amenable material for its research than those requiring a plant symbiosis. Its approach ranged from biochemical enzymology to microbial physiology and general microbiology, and in due course it introduced the genetics, and was genuinely collaborative, with everyone, including Postgate, working at the bench. Almost all its research publications were multi-authored and Postgate's name appeared only on those original papers to which he had actively contributed - though he prescribed and oversaw all his staff's research directions. Outstanding papers were: a series deducing mode of action of nitrogenase, the enzyme responsible for the initial attack of nitrogen, which is an oxygen-sensitive complex of two proteins, iron and molybdenum, which requires energy (ATP) to function and which releases hydrogen from water while fixing nitrogen (+7); the elucidation of oxygen-screening processes in an oxygen-tolerant species of nitrogen fixer and the discovery in that microbe of a second nitrogenase containing vanadium in place of molybdenum alongside the regular one (+8); the elucidation of a cluster of some 21 genes which code for the whole nitrogen-fixing system, the creation of mobile genetic elements carrying that cluster and the transfer therewith of the ability to fix nitrogen to wholly new bacteria by genetic manipulation (+9,+10). One of the Unit's plamids came into world-wide use to study the genetics of nitrogen fixation. The Unit's reputation prospered as a world centre for basic research on the subject (+11). Postgate had spent March 1977-March 1978 as Visiting Professor of Microbiology at Oregon State University, U.S.A.. He became Director of the UNF when Chatt retired in 1980 and in turn Postgate retired in 1987. The UNF was later absorbed by the John Innes Centre at Norwich.[13] New References: +1 Postgate (1949) Competitive inhibition of sulphate reduction by selenate. Nature 164: 670 +2 Postgate (1951) The reduction of sulphur compounds by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. J. Gen. Microbiol. 5:725-738. Grossman & Postgate (1955) The metabolism of malate and certain other compounds by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans J. Gen. Microbiol, 12:429-445 +3 Postgate (1956) Cytochrome c3 and desulfoviridin; pigments of the anaerobe Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. J. Gen. Microbiol, 14:545-571. +4 Odom & Rivers Singleton (eds.) (1993) The Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria: Contemporary Perspectives. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-97865-8 +5 Butlin & Postgate (1954) The microbiological formation of sulphur in Cyrenaican lakes. From Biology of Deserts (J.L. Cloudsley–Thompson, ed.) Inst. Biol., London, pp. 112–122. +6 Postgate & Hunter (1962) The survival of starved bacteria. J. Gen. Microbiol. 29:233–263. +7  Smith et al. (1987) Biochemistry of Nitrogenase and the Physiology of Related Metabolism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 317, 131-146 +8 Kennedy et al. (1987) The Genetic Analysis of  Nitrogen Fixation, Oxygen Tolerance and Hydrogen Uptake in Azotobacters. ibid, 159-171 +9 Dixon et al. (1987) Genetics and Regulation of nif and Related Genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae. ibid, 147-158 +10  Postgate, Dixon, Hill & Kent (1987) nif genes in alien backgrounds. ibid. 317: 227-243. +11 Nutman (1987) Centenary Lecture. ibid. 317 69-106 --> Johnbod (talk) 22:54, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

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 * World cat - how to work the template. Wiki at Royal Society John (talk) 22:10, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

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