6 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FUNGI 



Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), France. Pasteur was a chemist who, as a 

 result of his interest in microorganisms which cause disease and fermenta- 

 tions, became a biologist. No other scientist has opened up so many 

 fields of fruitful study. Early in his career he discovered that fungi are 

 able to discriminate between the optical isomers of tartaric acid. His 

 student Raulin devised the first synthetic medium for the cultivation of 

 fungi and published the first thorough study of the nutritional require- 

 ments of a fungus. Pasteur discovered that some organisms are inhibited 

 by free oxygen and that some fungi change both their morphology and 

 physiology when cultivated anaerobically. Pasteur's complete works 

 have been collected and edited (1933-1939) by his grandson, Professor 

 Pasteur Vallery-Radot. Dubos (1950) has published an evaluation of 

 Pasteur's work. 



Heinrich Anton de Bary (1831-1888), Germany. His principal contribu- 

 tions to mycology dealt with life histories and parasitism of fungi. His 

 interests were primarily with biological adaptations and were more physi- 

 ological than taxonomic. De Bary's influence as a teacher attracted 

 many students who later were responsible for much of the development of 

 plant pathology and mycology. Among his writings was " Morphologic 

 und Physiologic der Pilze" (first edition 1866, second edition, English 

 translation, 1887), which may be considered as the first book containing 

 discussions of the physiology of the fungi. 



Oscar Brefeld (1839-1925), Germany. We owe a great debt to this 

 patient investigator, who developed methods of ensuring sterile media 

 and apparatus for pure culture work. He was equally insistent with 

 regard to the purity of his cultures. His chief interest in mycology was 

 the study of life histories and development of fungi. This meant to him 

 observation of a fungus from ''Spore zu Spore." He was the first to use 

 the single-spore technique. Besides his occasional papers, he published 

 his monumental work (1872-1912) in 15 parts. This beautifully illus- 

 trated work is still of great value. 



Georg Klehs (1857-1918), Germany. His important contributions to 

 the study of fungus physiology concerned problems related to sporulation. 

 In 1900 he summarized his conclusions in four statements or laws (Chap. 

 14). No better generalizations on this subject have appeared in the 50 

 years which have elapsed since they were published. For an evaluation 

 of the significance of Klebs' work, see Kauffman (1929). 



A. H. Reginald Buller (1874-1944), England and Canada. Many of his 

 studies involved the activities of fungi in relation to structure. His chief 

 interests lay in production of fruit bodies and spores, in spore discharge 

 and dissemination, and in the effects of the environment on these activi- 

 ties. His keen observations are recorded in detail in seven volumes, 

 "Researches on Fungi." These volumes are written in an interesting, 



