Nathan Edward Tolbert

Nathan Edward Tolbert (born May 19, 1919 in Twin Falls ( Idaho , USA), † December 13, 1998 in East Lansing ( Michigan , USA)) was an American biochemist and plant physiologist .

As the son of farmers, he worked in local agriculture at a young age and thus came into close contact with plants that would accompany his later career. He first attended the local school, then college at Idaho State University in Pocatello for two years and then returned to the local farm.

He then began his studies at the University of California, Berkeley , where he received his doctorate in chemistry in 1941 and then worked in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at Maynard Amerine . His first work concerned the pH value of the wines and their tannin content .

In 1943 he was drafted into the US Army Air Force, where he worked in aerial reconnaissance. After the war he began studying biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison with Bob Burris , where he received his Ph.D. PhD. He then returned to the University of California at Berkeley and worked there in Melvin Calvin's laboratory .

After a year of service with the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, DC, he worked for Stirling Hendricks (1902-1981) at the United States Department of Agriculture in Beltsville . He then returned to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee , where he worked in Alexander Hollander's department and published seminal results on photorespiration of green plants.

In 1958, Guarth Hansen brought him to Michigan State University as Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, where he set up an important institute and where he called numerous colleagues, including Anton Lang , Jan Zeevaart , Norm Good , Hans Kende , Peter Volk and Charlie Arntzen .

In addition to many pioneering plant physiological findings, his work on photorespiration should be highlighted in particular. In addition, he was one of the first researchers to describe the contribution made by the CO ₂ -O ₂ regulation in the atmosphere by green plants.

In 1984 Tolbert was elected to the National Academy of Sciences .

Publications

• with TJ Andrews, GH Lorimer: Incorporation of molecular oxygen into glycine and serine during photorespiration in spinach leaves. In: Biochemistry . 10, 1971, pp. 4777-4785.
• with TJ Andrews and GH Lorimer: Ribulose diphosphate oxygenase. I. Synthesis of phosphoglycolate by fraction-1 protein of leaves. In: Biochemistry. 12, 1973, pp. 11-18.
• with AA Benson, JA Bassham, M. Calvin, AG Hall, HE Hirsch, S. Kawaguchi and V. Lynch: The path of carbon in photosynthesis. XV. Ribulose and sedoheptulose. In: Journal of Biological Chemistry . 196, 1952, pp. 703-716.
• with M. Calvin, JA Bassham, AA Benson, VH Lynch, C. Ouellet, L. Schou and W. Stepka: Carbon dioxide assimilation in plants. In: Sym Soc Exp Biol. 5, 1951, pp. 284-305.
• with M. Calvin, JA Bassham, AA Benson, S. Kawaguchi, VH Lynch and W. Stepka: The path of carbon in photosynthesis XIV. In: Selecta Chima (Sao Paulo, Brazil). 10, 1951, pp. 143-159.
• with CO Clagett, RH Burris: Oxidation of _- hydroxy acids by enzymes from plants. In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. 178, 1949, pp. 977-987.
• with R. Gee, A. Goyal, RU Byerrum: Two isoforms of dihydroxyacetone phosphate reductase from the chloroplasts of Dunaliella tertiolecta. In: Plant Physiol. 103, 1993, pp. 243-249.
• with A. Goyal: Association of glycolate oxidation with photosynthetic electron transport in plant and algal chloroplasts. In: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA . 93, 1996, pp. 3319-3324.
• with JF Guymon, MA Amerine: Studies with Brandy. II. Tannin. In: J Food Res. 8, 1943, pp. 231-239.
• with T. Kisaki: Glycolate and glyoxylate metabolism by isolated peroxisomes or chloroplasts. In: Plant Physiol. 44, 1969, pp. 242-250.
• with GH Lorimer, TJ Andrews: Ribulose diphosphate oxygenase. II. Further proof of reaction products and mechanism of action. In: Biochemistry. 12, 1973, pp. 18-23.
• The role of peroxisomes and photorespiration in regulating atmospheric CO2. In: H. Stabenau (Ed.): Phylogenetic Changes in Peroxisomes of Algae: Phylogeny of Plant Peroxisomes. University of Oldenburg Press, Oldenburg, pp. 428-442.
• The C-2 oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle. In: Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 48, 1997, pp. 1-25.
• with RH Burris: Light activation of the plant enzyme which oxidized glycolic acid. In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. 186, 1950, pp. 791-804.
• with PB Pearson: Atomic energy and the plant sciences. In: Adv Agron. 4, 1952, pp. 279-305.
• with J. Preiss: Regulation of Atmospheric CO ₂ and O ₂ by Photosynthetic Carbon Metabolism. Oxford University Press, New York 1994.
• with RK Yamazaki: Leaf peroxisomes and their relation to photorespiration and photosynthesis. In: Ann NY Acad Sci. 168, 1969, pp. 325-341.
• with LP Zill: Metabolism of sedoheptulose-C ₁₄ in plant leaves. In: Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics . 50, 1954, pp. 392-398.
• with LP Zill: Isolation of carbon-14-labeled sedoheptulose and other products from Sedum spectabile. In: Plant Physiol. 29, 1954, pp. 288-292.
• with LP Zill: Excretion of glycolic acid by algae during photosynthesis. In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. 222, 1956, pp. 895-906.
• with JF Guymon, MA Amerine: Studies with Brandy. I. PH. In: J Food Res. 8, 1943, pp. 224-230.