1. Henry Tryon—the true discoverer of the potato brown rot pathogen, Ralstonia solanacearum.
- Author
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Ryley, Malcolm J.
- Subjects
RALSTONIA solanacearum ,BROWN rot ,PHYTOPATHOGENIC microorganisms ,POTATOES ,BACILLUS (Bacteria) - Abstract
Within a few years of the establishment of the convict settlement at Sydney Cove, the potato became one of the staple crops of the population due to its relatively high yield and the prior experience of the convicts and free settlers with growing the crop. In 1894, Henry Tryon described a new disease in southern Queensland that caused rapid wilting of plants, a ring of slightly translucent tissue just below the surface of affected tubers, oozing of a thick, white fluid from the 'eyes', and ultimately rotting of the tubers. It soon became known as 'Tryon's disease'. He found that a microbe (bacterium) was always associated with affected tubers and stems, provided a very brief description of the bacterial cells and named the microbe Bacillus vascularum solani. A few years later the American scientist Erwin Frink Smith wrote a paper on a new disease (brown rot) of solanaceous plants including the potato and tomato, in which he called the causal agent Pseudomonas solanacearum , now known as Ralstonia solanacearum. Smith dismissed Tryon's prior claim to the discovery of the disease with some of his comments being personal and scathing. Tryon had the last word, however, cloaking his response in restrained and somewhat convoluted tones. In 1894, the Queensland government entomologist, and later vegetable pathologist, Henry Tryon (1856–1943) discovered a new disease that caused potato tubers to become rotted and putrid. He consistently found bacterial cells in a thick mucilaginous gum in the vascular tissues of wilted stems and infected tubers, and gave it the name Bacillus vascularum solani. The American bacteriologist Erwin Frink Smith would not accept Tryon's discovery, instead naming the causal agent Pseudomonas solanacearum. That bacterium, now called Ralstonia solanacearum is a significant plant pathogen worldwide. Photograph by an unknown person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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