Gerhard Reuter (veterinarian)

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Gerhard Reuter, Berlin August 2, 2017

Gerhard Alfred Heinz Reuter (born September 30, 1929 in Suhl , Thuringia ; † April 26, 2019 in Berlin ) was a German veterinarian . From 1987 to 1989 he was dean of the veterinary medicine department at the Free University of Berlin .

Life

Reuter is the older of two sons of the teacher Kurt Reuter. In 1933 he moved to Mühlhausen / Thuringia . He graduated from high school in July 1948, followed by internships in agriculture and horticulture. In 1949 he attended the pedagogical college in Wilhelmsthal near Eisenach and from 1950 to 1952 took on a teaching post in Mühlhausen / Thuringia. In 1952 Reuter began studying veterinary medicine at the Free University of Berlin and the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (1955–1956). In 1957 he passed a veterinary state examination and received a veterinary license to practice medicine in Berlin in 1958 . On June 19, 1958 he received his doctorate as Dr. med. vet. , at the Free University of Berlin.

From 1958 he worked as a scientific assistant (part-time) at the Institute for Food Hygiene at the Free University of Berlin, and in 1959 he became a research assistant in the "Focus Program Nutrition Research of the German Research Foundation" under Martin Lerche . In 1962, Reuter became a scheduled scientific assistant at the Institute for Food Hygiene at the FU. In the same year he received a certificate of qualification for employment as a civil servant veterinarian. Since 1966 he worked as a veterinarian for food hygiene. On June 16, 1969 his habilitation and venia legendi took place at the veterinary medicine faculty of the FU for "food hygiene including meat and milk hygiene". On August 1, 1969, Reuter became " Scientific Councilor and Professor" at the Institute for Food Hygiene at the Free University of Berlin. From 1972 he was a " full professor " and head of the "Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology" at the Free University of Berlin. From 1987 to 1989 Reuter also worked as dean of the "Department of Veterinary Medicine" at the Free University of Berlin. In 1993 he received a new appointment for the specialist area "Food hygiene including meat and milk hygiene" according to Section 4 (2) of the Merger Act for Veterinary Medicine in Berlin. He retired on September 30, 1997 . This was followed by the continuation of third-party funded research until December 1999. He then got the right to host the Institute for Meat Hygiene and Technology.

Reuter was married to Gisela geb. Essrich; the marriage has two children.

Research / teaching activities

His work as a research assistant in the "Priority Program Nutrition Research of the German Research Foundation" resulted in the discoveries and descriptions of seven new species of the genus Bifidobacterium (1963) and two species of the genus Lactobacillus (1983). A new lactobacilli species was named Lactobacillus reuteri nov in his honor in 1980 . spec. 1980 (Kandler, et.al.) included in the taxonomy of bacteria. This was done by Otto Kandler's working group , professor of botany in Munich, for the new stem form, which Gerhard Reuter had differentiated from L. fermentum and which proved to be an essential, obligatory stem form of the human intestinal tract.

In 2013 a new species was named as Bifidobacterium reuteri , nov. spec. (Dicks, et.al.) By the working group Leon Dicks, microbiologist at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) in recognition of the decades-long, systematic treatment of the genus Bifidobacterium by Gerhard Reuter.

The main scientific work areas were:

  • Lactobacilli and closely related microorganisms in food and their technological importance
  • Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in the intestinal flora of humans and some farm animals and their position and significance in the intestinal microbiome.
  • Differentiation of new types of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in food and in the human intestine, combined with confirmation in the scientific taxonomy and nomenclature of bacteria.
  • Contribution to faster analysis of individual components of the microflora of animal-derived food.
  • Examination of the use of selected microorganisms in the production of food originating from animals: starter cultures in raw sausage and yoghurt production
  • Examination of the use of selected microorganisms as probiotics in humans and farm animals, especially as a substitute for antibiotics.
  • Improvement of production hygiene in the production of food of animal origin, e.g. B. through effective disinfection and cleaning processes.
  • Testing and certification of the effectiveness of disinfectants for use in food production and animal husbandry as well as in the pharmaceutical sector.

The delimitation and description of some new bacterial species resulted from the results of taxonomy research. For inclusion in the genus Lactobacillus, the following were proposed and accepted:

  • Lactobacillus alimentarius nov. spec. (Reuter, 1983)
  • Lactobacillus farciminis nov. spec. (Reuter, 1983)

For the genus Bifidobacterium, the proposal for further new species from the human intestine was created and accepted for the first time from a large number of biotype descriptions:

  • Bifidobacterium adolescentis nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)
  • Bifidobacterium breve nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)
  • Bifidobacterium infantis nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)
  • Bifidobacterium lactentis nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)
  • Bifidobacterium liberorum nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)
  • Bifidobacterium longum nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)
  • Bifidobacterium parvulorum nov. spec. (Reuter, 1963)

The type strains of the new species were deposited in internationally recognized collections, initially in the ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) in Washington, DC, and from there transferred to other international collections. They served as reference strains for many other basic research all over the world.

The number of his publications amounts to approx. 280 articles and scientific papers. 80 dissertations were inaugurated as doctoral supervisors and three habilitation theses and some master's theses were supervised.

Six of his long-term students became professors, three of whom held professorships in their subject at three of the five educational institutions for veterinary medicine in Germany, and three more professorships in veterinary medicine or at a university of applied sciences.

From personal funds that were still available after retirement, a foundation fund was set up in 2003 at the Society of Friends and Patrons of Veterinary Medicine at Freie Universität Berlin eV, from which the " Gerhard Reuter Prize for Special Study Achievements " is awarded to the two best graduates of the veterinary examination at the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Freie Universität.

honors and awards

voluntary work

Member and function holder in national and international specialist bodies:

swell

  • Gerhard Reuter: The path to science and a university career. Self-published Scientific Institutions Veterinary Public Health, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-045008-2 ( digitized version )
  • Who is who ? Das Deutsche Who's Who., 52nd edition p. 790, Schmidt-Römhild Verlag, Mengstr. 16, 23552 Lübeck, 2015, ISBN 978-3-7950-2055-2 .
  • Bünte (Giessen), Dieter Großklaus , Hartmut Eisgruber, Andreas Stolle, Matthias Upmann: Univ.-Prof. em. Dr. Dr. hc Gerhard Reuter passed away. In: Deutsches Tierärzteblatt . Vol. 67, 2019, issue 7, p. 956

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary notice Gerhard Reuter , Der Tagesspiegel from May 15, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Reuter, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reuter, Gerhard Alfred Heinz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German veterinarian
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Suhl , Thuringia
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 2019
Place of death Berlin