Steven Earl Lindow (born 1951) is an American plant pathologist. He has researched the application of

transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

bacteria to prevent frost damage in crops as well as using bacteria to prevent

russeting Russeting or russetting is an abnormality of fruit skin which manifests in russet-colored (brownish) patches that are rougher than healthy skin. It is a common feature in apples and pears. Russeting is typically an undesirable trait, which reduce ...

of fruit. He is a member of several scientific societies, including the National Academy of Sciences, and has been co-editor of the ''

Annual Review of Phytopathology The ''Annual Review of Phytopathology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about phytopathology, the study of diseases that affect plants. It was first published in 1963 as the result of a collaboration between the ...

'' from 2015-2023.

Early life and education

Steven Earl Lindow was born in 1951 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. His father had a farm where he grew wheat and

clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

seed. As a thirteen-year-old, he planted four acres of strawberries and boysenberries on the farm, but the crops died from frost damage. This would later influence his decision to research frost damage in crops, leading to the creation of ice-minus bacteria. He attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

for his bachelor's degree and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

for his PhD, graduating in 1977. His PhD research was on the plant pathogen ''

Pseudomonas syringae ''Pseudomonas syringae'' is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium with polar flagella. As a plant pathogen, it can infect a wide range of species, and exists as over 50 different pathovars, all of which are available to researchers from intern ...

'', a species of

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

that produces proteins that raise the temperature at which plants experience frost damage.

Career

In 1978 he began working at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

as an assistant professor; he was promoted to associate professor in 1983. At Berkeley, he continued his work on the bacteria ''P. syringae''; he and his colleagues created a

form of the bacteria that lacked the gene to produce the protein that initiated ice formation at higher temperatures. The commercial strain was called "Frostban"; its initial testing in 1987 marked the first authorized outdoor testing of genetically engineered bacteria. Along with Deane Arny, Lindow holds several

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s related to biocontrol agents to reduce frost damage in plants. Lindow's research also explored the mechanism by which bacteria becomes resistant to copper, which is used as an antimicrobial. He also researched

in fruit, discovering that it is caused by the secretion of

indole acetic acid Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, 3-IAA) is the most common naturally occurring plant hormone of the auxin class. It is the best known of the auxins, and has been the subject of extensive studies by plant physiologists. IAA is a derivative of indole, con ...

by bacteria, and could be mitigated by spraying flowering plants with bacteria that competitively excludes the bacteria that causes russeting. From 2015-2023, he has been a co- editor of the ''

'', for most of that time with Jan E. Leach.

Awards and honors

In 1985, he was awarded the

William O. Baker Award for Initiatives in Research The William O. Baker Award for Initiatives in Research, previously the NAS Award for Initiatives in Research, is awarded annually by the National Academy of Sciences "to recognize innovative young scientists and to encourage research likely to le ...

for his work on ice-minus bacteria. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1999. He is also a fellow of the

American Academy of Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

American Phytopathological Society The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is an international scientific organization devoted to the study of plant diseases (phytopathology). APS promotes the advancement of modern concepts in the science of plant pathology and in plant healt ...

, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindow, Steven E. 1951 births Living people Scientists from Portland, Oregon Oregon State University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American phytopathologists Annual Reviews (publisher) editors