Albert Bernhard Frank (January 17, 1839 – September 27, 1900) was a German botanist, plant pathologist, and mycologist, born in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
. He is credited with coining the term ''
mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
'' in his 1885 paper "Über die auf Wurzelsymbiose beruhende Ernährung gewisser Bäume durch unterirdische Pilze".
Frank was commissioned to develop practical methods for truffle cultivation by the King of Prussia (
Wilhelm I
William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...
). Although this project was not successful, it led to his elucidation of the nature and development of mycorrhizae. The history and impacts of Frank's work on mycorrhizae were reviewed by Trappe.
The bacterial genus ''
Frankia
''Frankia'' is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in symbiosis with actinorhizal plants, similar to the ''Rhizobium'' bacteria found in the root nodules of legumes in the family Fabaceae. ''Frankia'' also initiate the forming of root ...
'' and family ''
Frankiaceae
''Frankia'' is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in symbiosis with actinorhizal plants, similar to the ''Rhizobium'' bacteria found in the root nodules of legumes in the family Fabaceae. ''Frankia'' also initiate the forming of ...
'' were named after him.
[Prokaryotic symbionts in plants by Katharina Pawlowski]
p. 107
/ref>
In 1877, Albert Frank coined the term "symbiosis
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
" (German: Symbiose) to describe the nature of lichens. He died in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Works
* ''Pflanzen-Tabellen zur leichten, schnellen und sicheren Bestimmung der höheren Gewächse Nord-und Mittel-Deutschlands, nebst 2 besonderen Tabellen zur Bestimmung der deutschen Holzgewächse nach dem Laube, sowie im winterlichen Zustande und einer Uebersicht über das natürliche System'' . Schmidt & Günther, Leipzig 4., verb. und verm. Aufl. 188
Digital edition
by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
References
1839 births
1900 deaths
19th-century German botanists
Scientists from Dresden
Phytopathologists
Mycologists
Mycoplasma
{{Germany-botanist-stub