Alfred Koch (microbiologist)

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Alfred Koch (born November 8, 1858 in Erfurt , † June 22, 1922 in Göttingen ) was a German microbiologist.

Koch, son of a secondary school director, studied botany at the University of Strasbourg and was awarded a doctorate there in 1884 with a thesis on the sieve tubes in leaves. phil. PhD. From 1886 he worked at the Plant Physiological Institute of the University of Göttingen . In 1888 he completed his habilitation here with a thesis on the morphology and development history of some forms of bacteria. Until 1895 he was a private lecturer for botany in Göttingen, then for six years a teacher at the viticulture school in Geisenheim . From 1901 until his death he was professor and director of the Agricultural-Bacteriological Institute of the University of Göttingen, which he founded.

Koch's main research focus was agricultural bacteriology. In laboratory tests, he mainly examined the nitrogen fixation by soil bacteria. In long-term field trials, he tested nitrogen accumulation on fallow land. Koch recognized the importance of enzymes in the life of bacteria and fungi at an early stage . He published the most important results for agriculture in the Journal für Landwirtschaft . Noteworthy is his book Mikrobiologisches Praktikum, published posthumously in 1922 .

Fonts

  • Results of ten years of comparative field tests on the effects of fallow land, manure and clover. In: Journal for Agriculture. Volume 61, 1913, pp. 245-281.
  • Microbiological internship. Edited by Richard Koch after the author's death. Springer, Berlin 1922.

literature

  • Franz Lehmann: Alfred Koch. In: Journal for Agriculture. Volume 70, 1922, pp. 217-220 (with picture).
  • Alfred Gehring: Professor Dr. Alfred Koch † In: Centralblatt for Bacteriology, Parasite Science and Infectious Diseases. Abt. 2, Volume 57, 1922, pp. 305-309 (with list of publications).
  • August Rippel: Alfred Koch. In: Reports of the German Botanical Society. Volume 41. 1923, general assembly booklet, pp. 67–74 (with picture).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Koch, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German microbiologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Erfurt
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 1922
Place of death Goettingen