Irma Andersson-Kottö (1 January 1895Fries, Robert Elias
A Short History of Botany in Sweden
p. 112 (1950) ("The work of docent IRMA ANDERSSON-KOTTO of the Stockholm University (born in 1895) includes a series of papers on investigations of the genetics of ferns ...") - 7 July 1985) was a Swedish

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and a pioneer in

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

Education

Andersson graduated from the University of Stockholm. In 1919 she wrote to

William Bateson William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscove ...

and joined the then John Innes Horticultural Institution (now the

John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

) as a volunteer worker, where later she was appointed as a student. From 1934-38 she undertook her PhD at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Research

Andersson studied inheritance in ferns and was the first to introduce the use of an

agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar is ...

-based growth medium for the experimental study of fern

gametophytes A gametophyte () is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has one set of chromosomes. The gametophyte is the sex ...

. Her study of

apospory In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttin ...

and

polyploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...

series in ''

Asplenium scolopendrium ''Asplenium scolopendrium'', commonly known as the hart's-tongue fern, is an evergreen fern in the genus ''Asplenium'' native to the Northern Hemisphere. Description The most striking and unusual feature of the fern is its simple, undivided fron ...

'' was important in understanding the origin and development of the

alternation of generations Alternation of generations (also known as metagenesis or heterogenesis) is the predominant type of Biological life cycle, life cycle in plants and algae. It consists of a Multicellular organism, multicellular haploid sexual phase, the gametophy ...

, a key concept in

plant development Important structures in plant development are buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers; plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant a ...

. She was invited to join the join the

British Pteridological Society The British Pteridological Society is for fern enthusiasts of the British Isles, and was founded in England in 1891. The origins and early history of the BPS at the time of "Pteridomania Pteridomania or fern fever was a Victorian craze for f ...

as an honour member but elected to join as an honour subscribing member. After her time in the UK studying British ferns, she returned to Sweden to work at Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm. More recently some of her hypothesis on the dominance of certain alleles in ferns were confirmed experimentally.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson-Kotto, Irma Stockholm University alumni 1895 births Year of death missing Swedish geneticists Swedish women botanists 20th-century Swedish scientists Alumni of the University of London Date of death missing Women geneticists Swedish expatriates in the United Kingdom