Sergei Winogradsky | |
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| Born | 13 September 1856 (1856-09-13) |
| Died | 24 February 1953 (1953-02-25) (aged 96) Brie-Comte-Robert, France |
| Alma mater | Saint Petersburg Imperial University |
| Known for | Nitrogen cycle Chemoautotrophy Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria |
| Awards | Leeuwenhoek Medal (1935) Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Institutions | Saint Petersburg Imperial University University of Straßburg Institute of Experimental Medicine Pasteur Institute |
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Sergei Nikolaevich WinogradskyForMemRS[1] (Russian:Сергей Николаевич Виноградский;Ukrainian:Сергій Миколайович Виноградський; 13 September [O.S. 1 September] 1856,Kyiv – 24 February 1953,Brie-Comte-Robert),[2] also published under the nameSergius Winogradsky,[3] was a Ukrainian and Russianmicrobiologist,ecologist andsoil scientist who pioneered thecycle-of-life concept.[4][5] Winogradsky discovered the first known form oflithotrophy during his research withBeggiatoa in 1887. He reported thatBeggiatoa oxidizedhydrogen sulfide (H2S) as an energy source and formed intracellularsulfur droplets.[3] This research provided the first example of lithotrophy, but notautotrophy. Born in the capital of present-day Ukraine, his legacy is also celebrated by this nation.[6]
His research onnitrifying bacteria would report the first known form ofchemoautotrophy, showing how a lithotrophfixes carbon dioxide (CO2) to makeorganic compounds.[7]
He is best known in school science as the inventor of theWinogradsky column technique for the study of sediment microbes.
Winogradsky was born inKyiv,Russian Empire to a family of wealthy lawyers. Among his paternal ancestors were Cossack atamans, and on the maternal side he was linked to theSkoropadsky family.[8] In his youth Winogradsky was "strictly devoted to theOrthodox faith", though he later became irreligious.[9]
After graduating from the 2nd Kiev Gymnasium in 1873, he began studying law, but he entered theImperial Conservatoire of Music in Saint Petersburg in 1875 to study piano.[1] However, after two years of music training, he entered theSaint Petersburg Imperial University in 1877 to study chemistry underNikolai Menshutkin and botany underAndrei Famintsyn,[1] receiving his degree in 1881 and staying on for a master's in botany, which he received in 1884. In 1885, he moved to theUniversity of Straßburg to work under the renowned botanistAnton de Bary, subsequently becoming renowned for his work on sulfur bacteria.
In 1888, after de Bary's death, he relocated toZürich, where he began investigation into the process of nitrification, identifying the generaNitrosomonas andNitrosococcus, which oxidizesammonium tonitrite, andNitrobacter, which oxidizes nitrite tonitrate.[10]
He returned to St. Petersburg for the period 1891–1905, obtaining his doctoral degree in 1902 and from then on heading the division of general microbiology of theInstitute of Experimental Medicine. During this period, he identified the obligate anaerobeClostridium pasteurianum, which is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen. In St. Petersburg he trainedVasily Omelianski, who popularized Winogradskys concepts and methodology in theSoviet Union during the next decades.[11]
In 1901, he was elected an honorary member of theMoscow Society of Naturalists and, in 1902, a corresponding member of theFrench Academy of Sciences. In 1905, due to ill health, the scientist left the institute and moved from St. Petersburg to the town ofGorodok in Podolia, where from 1892 he owned a huge estate. In fact, while working as the director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Winogradsky renounced his salary, which was transferred to a special account, and then used these funds to build a room for a scientific library, the director of which lived on the income from the estate, where agricultural work was carried out.[citation needed]
In Gorodok Winogradsky addressed the problems of agriculture and soil science. He introduced new management methods, bought the best varieties of seeds, plants, and livestock, and advanced technology. His estate became one of the richest and most successful in Podolia, and remained profitable even during the First World War, falling under Austro-Hungarian occupation.[citation needed]
He retired from active scientific work in 1905, dividing his time between his private estate in Gorodok and Switzerland. After the revolution of 1917, Winogradsky went first to Switzerland and then to Belgrade. In 1922, he accepted an invitation to head thePasteur Institute's division of agricultural bacteriology at an experimental station atBrie-Comte-Robert, France, about 30 km from Paris. During this period, he worked on a number of topics, among them iron bacteria, nitrifying bacteria,nitrogen fixation byAzotobacter,cellulose-decomposing bacteria, and culture methods for soil microorganisms. In 1923 Winogradsky became an honorary member of theRussian Academy of Sciences despite his emigration. He retired from active life in 1940 and died in Brie-Comte-Robert in 1953.
Winogradsky discovered variousbiogeochemical cycles and parts of these cycles. These discoveries include
Winogradsky is best known for discovering chemoautotrophy, which soon became popularly known aschemosynthesis, the process by which organisms derive energy from a number of differentinorganic compounds and obtaincarbon in the form ofcarbon dioxide. Previously, it was believed that autotrophs obtained their energy solely fromlight, not from reactions of inorganic compounds. With the discovery of organisms that oxidized inorganic compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonium as energy sources, autotrophs could be divided into two groups:photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs. Winogradsky was one of the first researchers to attempt to understandmicroorganisms outside of the medical context, making him among the first students ofmicrobial ecology andenvironmental microbiology.
TheWinogradsky column remains an important display of chemoautotrophy and microbial ecology, demonstrated in microbiology lectures around the world.[12]
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