Award Honorees at Plant Biology 2004

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s ASPB awards. The following presentations were made during the opening ceremony of the ASPB annual meeting, Plant Biology 2004, on Saturday, July 24, in Orlando.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERSHIP AWARDS
This annual honor, initially given in 1932, provides life membership and Society publications to distinguished plant physiologists from outside the United States.

Peter Hedden

Peter Hedden
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Peter Hedden has worked for his entire scientific career on the biosynthesis of the gibberellins (GAs), beginning as a student with the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi, and then moving to higher plants. In his early work with cell-free enzyme systems, he delineated the later steps in the GA-biosynthetic pathway in plants and, with Professor Jan Graebe, demonstrated that they were catalyzed by 2-oxo-glutarate-dependent dioxygenases. Another achievement at about this time was the characterization, with Professor Bernard Phinney, of the dwarf-5 mutation of maize, the first time that the defective step in GA biosynthesis in a dwarf mutant had been defined. On the basis of experiments with maize, he proposed that GA biosynthesis was subject to feedback regulation, and it was later shown in his laboratory that this occurred at the level of transcript abundance for GA 20-oxidase. In the past 10 years he has worked particularly with the genes encoding the GA dioxygenases, during which time the 20-oxidase and 2-oxidase genes were first cloned in his laboratory and shown to be arranged in small gene families, members of which are differentially regulated. He continues to work on the regulation of GA biosynthesis and has also returned to G. fujikuroi, in which, together with Dr. Bettina Tudzynski, he has identified and characterized each gene in the GA biosynthesis cluster.

Born in Wales, Hedden was educated at the University of Bristol, where he obtained a Ph.D. in organic chemistry with Professor Jake MacMillan. After postdoctoral stays at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and the University of California, Los Angeles, he returned to the United Kingdom, where he worked at several research institutes and is currently at Rothamsted Research. He is on the editorial boards of Planta, Phytochemistry, and the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation and chaired the Scientific Program Committee for the International Plant Growth Substances Association (IPGSA) conference in 2001. He received the IPGSA Distinguished Research award (Silver Medal) in 1998 and is currently president of that society.

Peter Hedden has made a major contribution to our knowledge of GA biosynthesis with his pioneering work enabling the impressive progress that has been made in this field in recent years.

Joseph Hirschberg

Joseph Hirschberg
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Dr. Joseph (Yossi) Hirschberg is professor and former chair of the Department of Genetics at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the director of the Avon–Minerva Center for Photosynthesis of the Hebrew University and the Weizmann Institute. His contributions to plant biology began with postdoctoral research in the lab of Lee McIntosh, in which he discovered that a mutation in psbA, the gene that encodes a key protein in photosystem II (PSII), D1, is responsible for resistance to the herbicide atrazine. This was the first chloroplast mutation to be deciphered at the molecular level. The first decade of his independent career was marked by strides in understanding the function of D1, which lies at the heart of the reaction center, applying genetics, biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology to the study of PSII.

Hirschberg’s group pioneered the molecular analysis of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants with the cloning and characterization of the gene that encodes phytoene desaturase. Since then he and his collaborators have studied a number of carotenoid biosynthesis genes that were identified by means of genetic methods developed in his lab. These studies elucidated the regulation of carotenoid accumulation in fruits and flowers and were imperative for genetically engineering plants to have altered carotenoid synthesis, such as in Golden Rice. For his contributions to metabolic engineering of carotenoids in plants, Hirschberg received the Kaye Innovation Prize of the Hebrew University. He was involved in the organization of a number of conferences in plant biology and biotechnology, including the 2nd International Congress on Plant Molecular Biology in 1987 and the IX International Congress on Plant Tissue and Cell Culture in 1998. He was for many years the Secretary of the Society of Genetics in Israel and is currently serving on the society’s board. As an advocate of plant biotechnology for nutritional improvement, he is active in the public debate in Israel on genetically modified crops through public appearances and in the public media. He has published in Israel articles on science for the general public and was awarded the Freund Prize for popular scientific writing. Among his outreach contributions is editorship for 13 years of Habiosphera, a professional journal of the Environmental Protection Service (later the Israel Ministry of the Environment).

Hirschberg’s awards include a Yihal Alon Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Joseph & Belle Braun Senior Lectureship in Life Sciences Award, and the Rafi Freund Prize for Popular Scientific Writing.

Joseph Hirschberg is internationally recognized for his contributions to the plant scientific community and for his consistently high quality of research and service.

Yukiko Sasaki

Yukiko Sasaki
Genesis Research Institute, Japan
Now a member of the Genesis Research Institute (affiliated with Toyota), Dr. Yukiko Sasaki received her Ph.D. from the School of Agricultural Sciences at Kyoto University in 1966. The same year she accepted a research associate position in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry at Kyoto—a position she held for 28 years (until 1994), when she was advanced to associate professor. The following year she moved to a full professorial post in the School of Agricultural Science at Nagoya University. With her Kyoto and Nagoya appointments, Sasaki became the first woman to hold a faculty position at a school of agriculture in a major Japanese university.
Sasaki is considered one of the founders of plant molecular biology. In the early phase of her career, her work led to an understanding of key features of the RNA polymerase family of enzymes and Rubisco (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she moved on to make pioneering contributions on chloroplast DNA replication and gene expression. A major accomplishment was her discovery of a small GTP-binding protein on the outer envelope of chloro-plasts—a finding whose significance was later clarified when Kessler, Schnell, and Blobel confirmed that one of the subunits of the chloroplast outer envelope transporter complex is a GTP-binding protein.

From the early 1990s until the completion of her academic career two years ago, Sasaki studied chloroplast acetyl-CoA carboxylase. She demonstrated that the chloroplast form of acetyl-CoA carboxylase is distinct from its cytosolic counterpart and is activated by light via thioredoxin. In her most recent work, she discovered that overexpression of the chloroplast carboxylase leads to an increase in the seed yield and oil content. Her recent work has important implications for biotechnology—an area she continues to pursue. Yukiko Sasaki’s contributions as a scientist and as a role model make her especially deserving of election as a Corresponding Member of ASPB.

CHARLES REID BARNES LIFE MEMBERSHIP AWARD
This is the oldest ASPB award, established in 1925 at the first annual meeting of the Society, through the generosity of Dr. Charles A. Shull. It honors Dr. Charles Reid Barnes, the first professor of plant physiology at the University of Chicago. This annual award of life membership in the Society recognizes meritorious work in plant physiology to an individual who is at least 60 years old.

Joe Cherry

Joe H. Cherry
Auburn University, Alabama
The Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership is awarded to Professor Joe H. Cherry for his more than 43 years of excellence in research, teaching, mentoring, and professional service to the plant biology community. Throughout his career, Cherry has been a leader in applying new biochemical and molecular techniques to expand our knowledge and understanding of plant physiology and plant development. From the laboratory classroom where he initiated the “Biochemical and Physiological Techniques” course to his classic text Molecular Biology of Plants: A Text and Manual, Cherry has made an impact on hundreds of plant physiologists worldwide. His research has spanned from the protein and nucleic acid metabolism associated with hormone responses to the biochemical changes associated with stress tolerance. He has nurtured both students and young faculty throughout his career and continues these roles to this day. For ASPB, he provided the leadership and stewardship that modernized the Society with professional management, making ASPB the force it is today for its members. Cherry has served his students, his colleagues, and the community with devotion and vision, providing that essential “activation energy” that makes a difference at every level. We are extremely pleased to award Joe Cherry this honor.

ADOLPH E. GUDE, JR. AWARD
This monetary award honors the Gude Family, who made possible the establishment of the Gude Plant Science Center. The award, established by the Society and first given in 1983, is made triennially to a scientist or layperson in recognition of outstanding service to the science of plant biology.

Lloyd Evans
CSIRO, Australia
Lloyd Evans is recognized internationally as a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the physiological basis for yield in major crop species and for the control of flowering in higher plants. Born in New Zealand and recognized early for his talents by selection as a Rhodes scholar, Evans has spent most of his career as a leader in Australian science. The Society has previously honored Evans for his scientific excellence by electing him a Corresponding Member of ASPB.

The selection of Evans as the recipient of the 2004 Adolph E. Gude, Jr. Award is made with recognition that his contributions extend well beyond those of an outstanding research scientist. Evans has made numerous major contributions to international agriculture and thus highlighted the importance of agricultural research for alleviation of poverty and hunger in the world. He has been an active player in the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), an organization of donors that supports 16 International Agricultural Research Centers. He served as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee to CGIAR from 1978 to 1983 and as a member of the Board of Trustees of one of the outstanding CGIAR centers—the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines—from 1984 to 1989. He designed the world’s first phytotron at Canberra and then took the leadership in transferring the technology to other countries. The phytotron at IRRI was built in the early 1970s under his supervision. As one noted scientist commented, “I had the privilege of serving as a staff member of IRRI during 1967–2002 and had the opportunity of interacting with many members of IRRI’s Board of Trustees. I was most impressed with Lloyd’s keen insight of scientific issues, his leadership of the Program Committee, and his guidance in setting the institute’s research agenda.” Evans also served later as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center, Mexico, from 1990 to 1995.

Another noted plant breeder has commented on the impact of Evans’s writing on the broader scientific community: “I have found myself citing his publications repeatedly as I have prepared presentations and reports for international bodies on the contributions of plant breeding to food production worldwide….In particular, two of his books (Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield, 1963, and Feeding the Ten Billion: Plants and Population Growth, 1998) have helped international policymakers, as well as research scientists in agriculture globally. They have given facts and commentary with historical, evolutionary, sociological, and (not least) scientific points of view and relevance. They have helped to advance the sound use of agricultural science to achieve international goals in food production as well as environmental protection.” Yet another scientist commented, “Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield is still considered to be one of the best books published in this area. Feeding the Ten Billion: Plants and Population Growth, on the other hand, should be mandatory reading for all plant biologists and agricultural policymakers.”

In sum, Lloyd Evans’s outstanding contributions as an international citizen–scientist make him well qualified to receive this award.

STEPHEN HALES PRIZE
This award honors the Reverend Stephen Hales for his pioneering work in plant biology published in his 1727 book Vegetable Staticks. It is a monetary award established in 1927 for a scientist, whether or not a member of the Society, who has served the science of plant biology in some noteworthy manner. The award is made biennially. The recipient of the award is invited to address the Society on a subject in plant biology at the next annual meeting.

Natasha Raikhel

Natasha Raikhel
University of California, Riverside
Natasha Raikhel received her Ph.D. in cell biology in 1975 from the Institute of Cytology in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia (USSR), where she worked on ciliate conjugation. After a period of postdoctoral work in the same institute, she emigrated in 1979 from the Soviet Union to the United States to study lectin cell biology in Dr. Barry Palevitz’s lab at the University of Georgia, Athens. Seven years later, she took up a faculty appointment at the Michigan State University– Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, where she began in earnest her work to develop Arabidopsis thaliana as a potent experimental system for addressing significant questions in plant cell biology.

After a decade-and-a-half at Michigan State University (MSU), Raikhel moved with her husband, Alex, an entomologist, to the University of California, Riverside (UCR), in early 2002. There she holds the Ernst and Helen Leibacher Endowed Chair in Plant Molecular, Cell Biology and Genetics and is also director of the Center for Plant Cell Biology in the UCR Genomics Institute.

Along the way, Raikhel and her colleagues have helped to define the signals that target proteins to the nucleus and to the vacuole of plant cells, and they have identified the genes and gene products required for vesicle-mediated protein transport in the secretory pathway, which, through their work, has been shown to play a crucial role in a number of plant developmental processes.

In addition to her many research accomplishments, Raikhel has been a stimulating and caring mentor for scores of young scientists and a role model for young women, whether working in her lab or not. She has dedicated herself to the advancement of plant biology through, among many other activities, her unwavering devotion to the Society’s journal Plant Physiology, which she has edited since 2000. A strong ambassador for the plant sciences, in 2003 Raikhel was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Award and a Women in Cell Biology Senior Award from the American Society of Cell Biology.

Natasha Raikhel loves excellent science, the arts (at one time she seriously considered a career as a musician), and life with a passion that few can match but many can deeply appreciate.

CHARLES F. KETTERING AWARD
This award was established by an endowment from the Kettering Foundation in 1962 to recognize excellence in the field of photosynthesis. It is a monetary award to be given in even-numbered years.

Richard Malkin
University of California at Berkeley
Richard Malkin is a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Natural Resources, University of California at Berkeley. He is one of the leading research scientists in the field of photosynthesis and has an esteemed international reputation. His work has been truly groundbreaking. He is not only a pioneer, but also a true leader in the field of photosynthesis. In particular, he has made a major contribution to the molecular and biochemical characterization of primary processes and to our current understanding of the functioning of photosystem I (PSI) and the cytochrome b₆f complex. He has always been at the forefront of the development of new methods and analytical tools to aid this characterization. For example, he was one of the first to exploit the technique of electron spin resonance spectroscopy to investigate the light-dependent reactions in thylakoid membranes and explore the redox properties of metal centers in the electron transport chain of photosynthetic organisms. His innovative approaches to analyzing the membrane-bound iron-sulfur centers of PSI were the first of their kind in chloroplasts.

Malkin has made a number of key original scientific contributions, such as the demonstration that plastocyanin was reduced by PSII and subsequently oxidized by PSI. His work led to the discovery of the Rieske protein as an integral component of the cytochrome b₆f complex in chloroplasts. Moreover, he provided evidence that the cytochrome b₆f complex was dimeric long before this was shown to be the case by x-ray crystallography. More recently, he has successfully applied site-directed mutagenesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to further explore the structure of the cytochrome b₆f complex.

Malkin has consistently shown himself to be a dynamic, innovative, and competent research scientist. He has long been a leading member of the international photosynthesis community, expressing his ideas with precision, clarity, and enthusiasm. He has published extensively and consistently in the highest-rated plant biology journals. His publication record bears testimony to his success. Other scientists have cited his papers many times. Throughout his career, he has also made a substantial contribution to education and public affairs. In view of these achievements that span a period of almost 40 years, Richard Malkin is most deserving of the Charles F. Kettering Award.

Excellence in Teaching Award
This award was initiated in 1988 to recognize outstanding teaching in plant biology. It is an award to be made not more than triennially in recognition of excellence in teaching, leadership in curricular development, or authorship of effective teaching materials in the science of plant biology.

Susan Singer

Susan Singer
Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
Susan Singer graduated summa cum laude from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1981 with certification to teach science in grades 6–12. She earned her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Rensselaer working with Carl McDaniel. She became an assistant professor at Carleton College in 1986, rising through the ranks as associate professor (1992) and full professor (1998). Singer initiated a new research program on floral development when she started at Carleton. She has published steadily and has obtained extramural research support. In the words of her nominator, she has been “an exemplary model of teacher/ scholar.” She has mentored more than 75 students at Carleton and has used grant support to provide opportunities for undergraduates to carry out research and to attend professional meetings. These students have coauthored major publications with Singer, and many have gone on to pursue careers in science.

Singer consistently receives excellent teaching evaluations and, according to her dean, has large enrollments in class. She has a well-deserved reputation as an innovative teacher and has developed hands-on experiments for large lecture courses. She has led the way with her colleagues in revamping introductory course sequences in biology. She served as director for the Perlman Learning and Teaching Center and has brought this dedication to innovation and improving science education to a more national audience. She chaired the ASPB Education Committee from 1992 to 1995, working on Fast Plant workshops at the University of Wisconsin. She contributes to Project Kaleidoscope and is a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers. She serves on national steering committees for several national education groups, including the Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences, and is currently working with the National Research Council to evaluate high school science laboratories.

Singer’s broad contributions to educational development extend to her role as a contributor to Raven, Johnson, Losos, and Singer’s Biology, 6th and 7th editions. She has published extensively in educational texts.

In summary, Susan Singer has made exemplary contributions as a teacher and as a mentor to young students, with innovations in teaching and curriculum development. She has made outstanding contributions to curricular development and in authorship of teaching materials.