Ralph Stoner Wolfe Explained
Ralph Stoner Wolfe (July 18, 1921, New Windsor, Maryland – March 26, 2019, Urbana, Illinois) was an American microbiologist, who contributed to the discovery of the single-celled archaea as the third domain of life.[1] He was a pioneer in the biochemistry of methanogenesis.[2]
Biography
Wolfe graduated in 1942 with a bachelor's degree in biology from Bridgewater College, where his father was a teacher. Ralph Wolfe earned a master's degree in bacteriology from the University of Pennsylvania and then worked for several years in a laboratory. He returned to the University of Pennsylvania and graduated there in 1953 with a Ph.D. in bacteriology.[3] In the department of bacteriology at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, he became an instructor in 1953, an assistant professor in 1955, an associate professor in 1957, and a full professor in 1961, retiring as professor emeritus in 1991.
His 1979 paper written in collaboration with Woese and 3 other microbiologists[4] has over 3,000 citations.
Wolfe was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships for the academic years 1960–1961 and 1975–1976.[5] In 1981, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences,[6] as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[3] In 1995, the National Academy of Sciences gave him the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology for "elucidating the biochemical pathway of the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane in microorganisms and in the course of this work defining new biochemical pathways, enzymes, and cofactors."[7] The American Society of Microbiology gave hime three awards.
He married Gretka Young in September 1950. Upon his death he was survived by his widow, a daughter, two sons, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.[8]
Selected publications
- 10.1073/pnas.48.10.1856. Role of Ferredoxin in Pyridine Nucleotide Reduction. 1962. Valentine. R. C.. Brill. W. J.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 48. 10. 1856–1860. 16591011. 221051. 1962PNAS...48.1856V. free .
- 10.1073/pnas.74.10.4537. Classification of methanogenic bacteria by 16S ribosomal RNA characterization. 1977. Fox. G. E.. Magrum. L. J.. Balch. W. E.. Wolfe. R. S.. Woese. C. R.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 74. 10. 4537–4541. 16592452. 431980. 1977PNAS...74.4537F. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.79.12.3707. Nickel-containing factor F430: Chromophore of the methylreductase of Methanobacterium. 1982. Ellefson. W. L.. Whitman. W. B.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 79. 12. 3707–3710. 6954513. 346495. 1982PNAS...79.3707E. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.80.8.2151. Component a of the methyl coenzyme M methylreductase system of Methanobacterium: Resolution into four components. 1983. Nagle. D. P.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 80. 8. 2151–2155. 6403944. 393775. 1983PNAS...80.2151N. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.81.7.1976. Formaldehyde activation factor, tetrahydromethanopterin, a coenzyme of methanogenesis. 1984. Escalante-Semerena. J. C.. Leigh. J. A.. Rinehart. K. L.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 81. 7. 1976–1980. 16593444. 345419. 1984PNAS...81.1976E. free .
- 10.1073/pnas.83.12.4238. Structure of component B (7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate) of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. 1986. Noll. K. M.. Rinehart. K. L.. Tanner. R. S.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 83. 12. 4238–4242. 3086878. 323707. 1986PNAS...83.4238N. free .
- Ossmer. R.. Mund. T.. Hartzell. P. L.. Konheiser. U.. Kohring. G. W.. Klein. A.. Wolfe. R. S.. Gottschalk. G.. Mayer. F.. Immunocytochemical localization of component C of the methylreductase system in Methanococcus voltae and Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 83. 16. 1986. 5789–5792. 0027-8424. 10.1073/pnas.83.16.5789. 16593743. 386380. 1986PNAS...83.5789O. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.83.18.6726. Requirement of the nickel tetrapyrrole F430 for in vitro methanogenesis: Reconstitution of methylreductase component C from its dissociated subunits. 1986. Hartzell. P. L.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 83. 18. 6726–6730. 3462721. 386582. 1986PNAS...83.6726H. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.85.1.60. Physiological importance of the heterodisulfide of coenzyme M and 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate in the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane in Methanobacterium. 1988. Bobik. T. A.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 85. 1. 60–63. 3124103. 279481. 1988PNAS...85...60B. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.94.6.2626. A genetic system for Archaea of the genus Methanosarcina: Liposome-mediated transformation and construction of shuttle vectors. 1997. Metcalf. W. W.. Zhang. J. K.. Apolinario. E.. Sowers. K. R.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94. 6. 2626–2631. 9122246. 20139. 1997PNAS...94.2626M. free.
- 10.1073/pnas.97.21.11522. A novel pH2 control on the expression of flagella in the hyperthermophilic strictly hydrogenotrophic methanarchaeaon Methanococcus jannaschii. 2000. Mukhopadhyay. B.. Johnson. E. F.. Wolfe. R. S.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 97. 21. 11522–11527. 11027352. 17233. 2000PNAS...9711522M. free.
References
- Web site: Yates, Diana. Ralph S. Wolfe, who helped discover new domain of life, dies at 97. April 2, 2019. Illinois News Bureau, University of Illinois.
- 10.1006/anae.1998.0169. Ralph S. Wolfe (1921–) Pioneer of Biochemistry of Methanogenesis. 1998. Chung. King-Thom. Varel. Vincent. Anaerobe. 4. 5. 205–208. 16887643.
- Web site: Ralph S. Wolfe. Illinois Distributed Museum (University of Illinois).
- 281474. 1979. Balch. W. E.. Fox. G. E.. George E. Fox. Magrum. L. J.. Woese. C. R.. Wolfe. R. S.. Methanogens: Reevaluation of a unique biological group. Microbiological Reviews. 43. 2. 260–296. 10.1128/MMBR.43.2.260-296.1979. 390357.
- Web site: Ralph S. Wolfe. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
- Web site: Ralph S. Wolfe. National Academy of Sciences.
- Web site: Selman A. Waksman Award. National Academy of Sciences.
- Web site: Ralph Stoner Wolfe, July 18, 1921 ~ March 26, 2019. Renner-Wikoff Chapel & Crematory.
External links