Bernard Ogilvie Dodge (18April 18729August 1960) was an American botanist and pioneer researcher on heredity in fungi. Dodge was the author of over 150 papers dealing with the life histories,

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

and

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 ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

, and with insects and other animal pests of plants. He made the first studies of

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote th ...

in the common bread mold, ''

Neurospora ''Neurospora'' is a genus of Ascomycete fungi. The genus name, meaning "nerve spore" refers to the characteristic striations on the spores that resemble axons. The best known species in this genus is '' Neurospora crassa'', a common model organ ...

''. Dodge's work on the genetics of ''Neurospora'' laid the groundwork for the discoveries that earned

George Wells Beadle George Wells Beadle (October 22, 1903 – June 9, 1989) was an American geneticist. In 1958 he shared one-half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edward Tatum for their discovery of the role of genes in regulating biochemical eve ...

and

Edward Lawrie Tatum Edward Lawrie Tatum (December 14, 1909 – November 5, 1975) was an American geneticist. He shared half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958 with George Beadle for showing that genes control individual steps in metabolism. The ...

the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in 1958.

Early years

Bernard Ogilvie Dodge was an eighth-generation descendant of

Rebecca Nurse Rebecca Nurse (February 13, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was a woman who was accused of witchcraft and executed by hanging in New England during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. She was fully exonerated fewer than twenty years later. She was the wife ...

, the third of seven children born to Mary Ann and Elbridge Gerry Dodge. Though neither parent had a high school education, both had a strong love for literature, music and learning. Dodge's father was widely acquainted with the writings of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

, Spenser, and

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, and supplemented the income from his

Mauston, Wisconsin Mauston is a city in and the county seat of Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,347 as of the 2020 census. It is approximately 70 miles northwest from the state capital, Madison. History Mauston was founded by Milton ...

farm by teaching in the local schools. Bernard Dodge spent the first 20 years of his life working on the family farm. He recalled to biographer W. J. Robbins that at the age of 10 a bumper crop of sorghum required operation of the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

day and night during the rush period of syrup making. At such times Dodge's father, two of Dodge's older brothers, and Dodge worked 18 hours a day, beginning at midnight. (Dodge's job was to stand on the circling horsepower platform and drive the horses, walking sideways to avoid dizziness.) That same winter, Bernard Dodge also worked at the local schoolhouse, one mile away, to sweep out the schoolhouse and build the fire. He earned five cents each school day. Dodge did not complete his

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

education until he was 20 years old. He taught high school and then entered 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, ...

as a special student in 1896, only to leave college less than a year later when his funds were exhausted. He returned to teaching until, at the age of 28, he had saved enough money to resume his formal education. He obtained a diploma from Milwaukee Normal School, returned to teaching a third time (serving as high school principal at

Algoma, Wisconsin Algoma is a city in Kewaunee County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,167 at the 2010 census. Algoma is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Ahnapee settlement, which eventually became known as Al ...

, where he also taught botany,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

). Dodge returned to the University of Wisconsin in 1908, at the age of 36, and completed the requirements for the Ph.B. degree in 1909. In high school, Dodge had a three-month course in botany in which each student was required to collect and identify 75 plants, using the keys of Gray's "School and Field Botany" textbook. Dodge recounted to W. J. Robbins that he "far exceeded the number required". While still a high school principal in Algoma, a chance meeting with an amateur mycologist (a Bohemian tailor with a basket full of "Pilze" (mushrooms) that were "gut fur essen" (good to eat)) aroused an interest in collecting fungi. Dodge sent specimens to the University of Wisconsin for identification, bought Atkinson's book on

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

, and his wife Jennie presented him with MacIllwain's "One Thousand Edible Mushrooms" as a Christmas present. At the University of Wisconsin, Dodge studied Botany under R. A. Harper. When Harper transferred to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York, he suggested that Dodge undertake graduate work there. Dodge accepted a minor position as Assistant and Research Fellow in Botany at Columbia. Dodge received his Ph.D at the age of 40; his first paper was published when he was 42. Dodge remained at Columbia as Instructor of Botany until 1920, when he accepted an appointment as Plant Pathologist (in fruit diseases) in the Bureau of Plant Industry of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

. During his eight years in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he initiated his studies of ''Neurospora''.

''Neurospora'' research

As a graduate student and instructor at Columbia, Dodge investigated the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and reproduction of species of Ascobolaceae. He found that the ascospores of several species of Ascobolus which rarely

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

under ordinary conditions on artificial media, do so readily after being subjected to 50-70 degrees Celsius for five to 10 minutes. Dodge discovered this completely by accident: after trying several methods to germinate the ascospores of Ascobolus (without success). One day Dodge temporarily set down a batch of test plates inside a hot-air sterilizer which was not running, while he went to teach a class. When Dodge returned, he was dismayed to find that someone had lit the oven in the interim, and the temperature inside had reached over 70 degrees. Dodge removed the plates, assumed that the spores had been killed, but before discarding the old plates he examined them under a

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...

. He was astounded to find that most of the spores had germinated. This discovery proved to be of importance later for his studies of ''Neurospora''. Though Dodge considered himself primarily a mycologist and a plant pathologist, his study of ''Neurospora'' is regarded by many as his major work. As he told W. J. Robbins:

I was, 1925-6, highly interested in studies on the blackberry rusts, short and long cycle forms (species). ��I had found that I could pass the rust on the Black Diamond
blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...
(dewberry) by grafting to young shoots of this species, and was trying to culture the rest on cornmeal agar in plates and flasks. So I had several plates and flasks (250 cc) standing on shelves in the Arlington Farm greenhouses. I was much concerned to find that ''Monila sitophila'' had gotten into some of the flasks as well as some plates. Practically all of them were soon bearing
perithecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mos ...
resembling those Dr. C. L. Shear had shown me and adasked me to try to germinate the ascospores. I was so much excited and interested in my rust studies that I could not leave those experiments to help my superior out. I did suggest trying to make those spores germinate by heating them. ��Several weeks had passed when this red bread mold developed in my greenhouse flasks and plates. Just on a chance I inverted plates of corn ealagar on cultures of perithecia shooting spores so spores were shot upward and scattered about. I put some of these plates in a drying oven and heated them as I had gone many times to make ascospores of Ascobolus to germinate. By next morning a high percentage of the mold had germinated.

The ability to germinate the ascospores of ''Neurospora'' made it possible to define its

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...

, distinguish species, make crosses between species, and grow the haploid offspring. Over the next 30 years, Dodge published over 40 papers on ''Neurospora'', which was easy to grow and required little space (and only a few days) to complete its life cycle. These advantages made ''Neurospora'', in many respects, an ideal organism for the investigation of genetics and biochemical genetics. Dodge convinced

Thomas Hunt Morgan Thomas Hunt Morgan (September 25, 1866 – December 4, 1945) was an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries elucidating the role that ...

of the advantages of ''Neurospora'' and Morgan took cultures with him when he transferred from Columbia University to the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1928.

Influence

Dodge never developed a larger program involving an extensive study of spontaneous and induced mutations or

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

mapping. In fact, he regarded his research on ''Neurospora'' as an "extra", carried on while pursuing his official duties as a plant pathologist. Nevertheless, Dodge's investigations laid the foundation for the use of ''Neurospora'' in the investigation of genetics and biochemical genetics on a worldwide basis. In a letter to Dodge on November 1, 1959, George Beadle wrote:

Without your pioneer work, those of us who have made use of ''Neurospora'' never could have done what we did. .''Neurospora'' has been good to many of us and it is your baby more than anyone else's. Thanks again for giving it to genetics.

In his own Nobel Lecture, Edward L. Tatum wrote:

I shall not enumerate the factors involved in our selection of this
organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...
for the production of chemical or nutritionally deficient mutants, but must take this opportunity of reiterating our indebtedness to the previous basic finds of a number of investigators. Foremost among these, to B. O. Dodge for this establishment of this ascomycete as a most suitable organism for genetics studies; and to C. C. Lindegren, who became interested in ''Neurospora'' through T. H. Morgan, a close friend of Dodge.

Another prominent scientist inspired directly by Dodge was

Esther Lederberg Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg (December 18, 1922 – November 11, 2006) was an American microbiologist and a pioneer of bacterial genetics. She discovered the bacterial virus λ and the bacterial fertility factor F, devised the first impl ...

, who worked with him at the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

as an intern while she was an undergraduate at Hunter College, Lederberg (née Esther Miriam Zimmer) worked with Dodge under three scholarships between 1941 and 1942, conducting research in heterokaryosis in

tetrasperma. She wrote her Master's thesis on ''Neurospora crassa'' and published two papers on ''Neurospora crassa''Giles, N. H. Jr., Lederberg, E. Z., March, 1948, "Induced reversions of biochemical mutants in Neurospora crassa", ''American Journal of Botany'' 35(3):150-157 before beginning her studies of the bacterium

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Esc ...

, and her highly influential development of replica plating, the discovery of fertility factor F (inheritable sex change due to viral infection), temperate lambda bacteriophage, and her pioneering work in transduction.

Professional associations

* National Academy of Sciences *

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

* American Association for the Advancement of Science *

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Field ...

(honorary) * Torrey Botanical Club * Botanical Society of America

References

External links

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodge, Bernard Ogilvie 1872 births 1960 deaths American botanists American mycologists People from Mauston, Wisconsin