A Cartoon History of

M. S. Coyne* ABSTRACT particularly endearing because they convey their message Students reviewing the history of soil microbiology may see while making us laugh (either inwardly or outwardly). Gary great microbiologists as icons rather than real people. I employ Larsen's portrayal of science and weird science in The Far cartoons to present a historical perspective of soil microbiolo- Side cartoon and Sidney Harris' sophisticated analyses of gy that makes this information more entertaining and conse- industrial science are classic examples of the genre. They're quently more palatable to introductory students. Basic histori- funny while simultaneously conveying either the principles, cal facts and major accomplishments of the pioneering soil foibles, or stereotypes of scientists and their science. microbiologists are present in a factual but tongue-in-cheek Much of the humor in these cartoons lies in knowing survey. The material is either presented as a slide show in class enough science to appreciate the jokes. For several years or as a part of a manual students may read at their leisure. I've been using cartoons to illustrate microbial principles for Comments about this approach have generally been favorable, students taking introductory soil microbiology at the but it lacks a rigorous test demonstrating whether it achieves University of Kentucky. What follows is a presentation I use its intended goal. This type of multimedia presentation should to introduce these students to the history of soil microbiolo- have potential application to a wider range of introductory gy and the key players who made the discipline what it is course material. today. It's written specifically for students following a prepackaged slide show, either independently or in class. The presentation isn't intended as a substitute for a true his- TUDENTS in introductory soil microbiology should be tory. Several suitable reviews already accomplish that pur- Sable to appreciate its place within the context of other pose (Allison, 1961; Clark, 1977). Rather, it's an attempt to natural sciences after being introduced to its intellectual place the development of soil microbiology in a relevant past. However, this exercise fails if accomplishments of out- human context using humor as a vehicle. standing microbiologists seem like unattainable standards. Students may see pioneer microbiologists as icons rather A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF than as role models. Consequently, one challenge in giving SOIL MICROBIOLOGY a historical survey of soil microbiology is to present that his- tory in a way that is both relevant and unintimidating. The Glossary of Terms (SSSA, 1987) says In an era of multimedia presentations, it's easy to over- that soil microbiology is "the branch of soil science con- look the usefulness of cartoons. They're models of simplic- cerned with soil inhabiting , their functions, ity; and they encapsulate messages and images within limit- and activities." But what does that really tell us about soil ed space and with limited words. Humorous cartoons are microbiologists? Who are these people? What do they do? Where do they come from? Department of Agronomy, N122 Building North, The last question is a crucial one if we want to explore Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0091. Contribution of the soil microbiology. Do soil microbiologists emerge, fully Kentucky Agric. Exp. Stn. Received 7 Oct. 1994. 'Corresponding author grown, from benchtop petri plates (Fig. 1)? No. Modern soil ([email protected]). microbiologists are the heirs of a long scientific tradition. Published in J. Nat. Resourc. Life Sci. Educ. 25:30-36 (1996). So, in this article, we'll take a brief tour through the history

30 • J. Nat Resour. Life Sci. Educ., Vol. 25, no. 1, 1996 WHATLEEUWENHOEK SAW. WHATTHE ANIMACULES SAW.

t

Fig.1. OHginof microbiologists. Fig. 3. Leeuwenhoekdiscovers microbes.

SALMON ;ERGEI LOUIS WAKSMANWINDYGRADSKY PASTURE

Fig. 2. Seminalmoments in soil biochemistry. Fig. 4. Whenfamous microbiologists’ names are mispronounced. of soil microbiology. Knowingwhere soil microbiologists century neighbors rarely brushed, wereless likely to floss, have been in the past will makeit easier to understandthem and hardly ever wentto their dentist (given the state of i:len- in the present, and predict whatthey’ll do in the future. tistry in the 17th century, prior knowledgethat the local bar- ber-surgeon might draw a pint of blood and then look at THE EARLY YEARS your teeth wasnot an incentive to go for annual checkups). After Leeuwenhoek’sdeath, years passed while scientists Soil microbiologists date back to the beginningsof agri- like Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799) and John Needham culture whenthe first cave man(or cave lady) noticed that (1713-1781) debated whether or not microbes were sponta- organic matter madeplants growa lot better. Youcould say neouslygenerated. Althoughthis seemslike a waste of time, that they were the first soil microbiologists observing the it was a useful exercise in developing what passed for the effects of microbial decompositionat work (Fig. 2). Soil scientific method in the 17th and 18th centuries: state microbiologists, unrecognized as such, were fermenting hypothesis, test hypothesis, revise hypothesis, savage any- grain in ancient Egypt. Eventually, Robert Hooke one whodisagrees with your hypothesis. (1635-1703), a memberof the Royal Society in England, got around to writing a soil microbiology book. It was a THE GREAT AGE OF RESEARCH monographpublished in 1665 that described microscopic moldsand spores for the first time. The next great era in soil microbiology research opened Mostpeople wouldagree, however,that this history real- in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries with the work of ly begins with (1632-1723). soil microbiologists like Sergei Winogradsky,Louis Pasteur, was a 17th century janitor and part-time lens grinder in and Selman Waksman(Fig. 4). Delft, Holland, who made the first microscopes good Sergei Winogradsky (1856-1953) was from Mother enoughto resolve microbesas small as (Fig. 3). Russia, but he’s called "The Father of Soil Microbiology" Leeuwenhoekwasn’t shy about what he looked at with because: he was a man,and he discoveredlots of interesting his microscopesand this meant that someof his most inter- things before anyone else did. Winogradskydeveloped the esting samplescame from stuff he scraped off of his neigh- WinogradskyColumn while studying the sulfur cycle. He bors’ teeth. This isn’t surprising since Leeuwenhoek’s17th investigated microbial growth on CO2 and inorganic ions

J. Nat. Resour.Life Sci. Educ.,VoL 25, no. 1, 1996¯ 31 NON! NON/ I MUZTZ’I’AYAND ILOU J, MON -1DIEU. ZAMPLEANOTHER COMETO BED~ -- BOTTLE. EET EEZ FOR ~E!

SANTACLAUS MRS. CLAUS ~

Fi ~. 5. Clostridium. Fig. 7. Thetesting of pasteurization.

/ THINK OF IT MONSIEUR T THULLIER! YOU CAN CHOOSE BETWEEN ~ STUDYING RABID ~ ~ LERA ~

Fig. 6. Investigatingthe animalrumen. Fig. 8. Workingwith Pasteur was no fun.

(chemoautotrophy). He studied nitrification (a microbial reputation for himself by separating crystals of tartaric acid process where NH,~ is ultimately converted into NO~). into mirror image isomers. This was boring, so he soon took winogradskii, one of the nitrifying bacteria, is up microbiology. Pasteur is noted for the process that bears named after Sergei Winogradsky. his name. He tried to use pasteurization to make French beer the best in the world (Fig. 7). Naturally, this was impossible You know you’ve made it in microbiology when your friends name a microbe after you. (which made Pasteur irritable). Pasteur also didn’t like beer You know what they really think about you if it’s a pathogen. (which made him even more irritable). Those who really suffered because Pasteur was brilliant Winogradsky investigated chemoautotrophic oxidation and irritable were his students. For example, Louis Thuillier of ferrous iron (ferrous iron is the reduced form of ferric was one of Pasteur’s best students. He never became famous iron, an essential component of rust--the material your for developing the rabies vaccine with Pasteur because, after joints turn into the momentyou turn 30). Winogradsky also years of back-breaking labor inoculating French cattle and isolated Clostridium, an anaerobic (growing without air), sheep with Pasteur’s attenuated Anthrax vaccine, Thuillier spore-forming, nitrogen-fixing (converting 2 t o NH3) went to Egypt (at Pasteur’s request) and promptly died bacilli (rod-shaped bacterium) (Fig. 5). Wesee the fruits cholera (Fig. 8). his pioneering work with anaerobes in modern research with Whenyou’re feeling blue, just think of Pasteur’s stu- obligately anaerobic microbes in special environments such dents. Whatever mindless, boring thing you have to do, at as the animal rumen (Fig. 6). least your professor didn’t ask you to collect rabid dog spit Winogradsky’s anaerobic, nitrogen-fixing cocci wasn’t with a mouth pipette. named Clostridium winogradskii, because Winogradsky did much of his work at an institute named for another great Pasteur once said, "Chance favors the well-prepared microbiologist of this era--Louis Pasteur (and his friends mind." Pasteur only took multiple-choice exams. named Clostridium pasteurianum and other, nastier microbes after him). After the Franco-Prussian War, Pasteur developed a con- Pasteur (1822-1895) was a giant in the early age of soil suming hatred for Germany and Germans (he even returned microbiology. He began working as a chemist and earned a his honorary degree from the University of Bonn). One

32 ¯ J. Nat. Resour.Life Sci. Educ., Vol. 25, no. 1, 1996 ROBERT/STOPPLA YING WITHTHOSE EYEBALLS, COMEBACK HERE, ANDSTART STUDYING

jYOUR BOTANY/ ~

Fig. 9. YoungKoch. Fig.11. Thefirst (andlast) viewLactobacillus bulgmicus has of l~lie Metchnikoff.

ACH!WAL THER! HEREYOU ARE. OUTOF THELABORA TORY MIT YOUAND YOUR DESSERT/ REPEAT!

Fig. 10. Anotherin the series of domesticdisputes between Walther andAngelina Hesse that leadsto the developmentof agar media. Fig. 12. Beijerlnckcultures Rhizobium from nodules.

Germanwhom Pasteur particularly hated was Robert Koch pig with Anthrax bacilli; (iii) watch guinea pig die (1843-1910).Koch, a rural doctor, earned his reputation anthrax; (iv) isolate Anthraxbacilli from dead guinea pig; developingpure culture techniques. Since Pasteur was never and (v) repeat steps 1 to 4, 10 000 times. Being German, really good at pure culture technique, this was something Koch was very thorough. else that madehim irritable. ~lie Metchnikoff (1845-1916) was an eccentric, even Koch’s pure culture techniques were originally devel- amongthe early soil microbiologists (odd whenyou consid- oped on inconvenient substrates like potatoes or gelatin er that collecting dog spit and killing thousands of guinea (from eyeballs) (Fig. 9). They would never have been pigs wasn’t considered eccentric). Metchnikoffwas a suici- successful without the help of a special woman.No, it dal, sour-milk-drinking Russian whothought that removing wasn’t his wife. This womanwas Frau Angelina Hesse who the large colon was a great idea. He was in step with his was married to one of Koch’s assistants (a group no less time, though, becausethis really was a popular medicalpro- abused than Pasteur’s students). She madeexquisite semi- cedure in the Victorian Age. He also discovered phagocyto- solid desserts fromred extracts (avid readers can find sis, whichshows that insanity is no barrier to good microbi- reference to this in Johann Wyss’classic, Swiss Family ology. Metchnikoff believed he could prolong his life by Robinson,the story of an oppressively cheerful family ship- consuming huge quantities of yogurt (milk fermented by wrecked in Disneyland). Lactobacillus bulgaricus). As it turns out, Metchnikoffkept One day, Angelina’s husband Walther Hesse decided to his colon and died (probably of a yogurt overdose) at age grow somemicrobial cultures on one of these desserts. It (Fig. 11). worked; they grew; agar media was born; Koch’s reputation While Pasteur fumedin Paris and Kochplated in Berlin, was made; and Walther Hesse probably slept on the couch another great school of microbiology developed in that night (Fig. 10). Leeuwenhoek’sold stomping grounds, Delft. It was led by Koch’sPostulates are namedfor Robert Koch. I can sum- (1851-1931). Beijerinck cultured the marize them for you with this example: (i) isolate Anthrax first isolates of symbiotic (in association with another bacilli fromdiseased guinea pig; (ii) infect healthy guinea organism)and asymbiotic (free-living) nitrogen-f’Lxing bac-

J. Nat. Resour.Life Sci. Educ.,Vol. 25, no. 1, 1996¯ 33 GOSHJ.P., DR. WAKSMAN’S MUDPIE TASTESAN AWFULLOT LIKE DIRT. MOREDESSERT BOYS/ /

Wig.13. Flemingat tea-tlme. Fig. 15. Waksman’sstudents were often unwitting partldpants in his moreobscure actlnomycete research.

I THINKIT’S GETTING HOTIN HERE.

NEXT! /

Fig.16. Theallure of denitrification.

the of ~ompost(Fig. 14). Youdon’t hear about it because around 1944, Waksmanand his research Fig. 14. Earlycomposting studies. associate, Ren6 Dubos, found a soil actinomycete, Streptorayces, with properties like Fleminghad found with Penicillium. It was Waksmanwho actually teria (Rhizobiumand Azotobacter, respectively) (Fig. 12). coined the word "antibiotic" and he wona Nobel Prize in Beijerinck is often attributed with this quote, "Everythingis 1952 for discovering . everywhere, but the environmentselects." Blameyour next Waksman’slaboratory ultimately became devoted to case of athlete’s foot on that. finding antimicrobial properties in soil microbes(Fig. 15). Meanwhile, in England, everyone knew that Alexander But, unlike Pasteur and Koch’s students whovaccinated and Fleming (1881-1955) was a little different. They just plated without muchreward, Waksman’sstudents became weren’t quite sure why(Fig. 13). Then one day in 1928, rich because the pharmaceutical industry greedily hired Flemingannounced that a , Penicillium notatum, con- them whenthey graduated. All of them, that is, except J.P. taminating an old plate of Staphylococcus in his lab, was Martin, whochose instead to do someelegant, but unprof- surrounded by a clear zone of dead and iysed cells. He had itable workwith fungi. discoveredthe first antibiotic, Penicillin. It didn’t makehim rich (although the cash from his NobelPrize in 1945 helped SOIL MICROBIOLOGY ENTERS a little), but he did get a knighthood, and he never threw THE MODERN ERA anything awayagain. This naturally leads us to Selman Waksman Youshould be seeing a pattern develop. In soil microbi- (1888-1973). Waksmanwas born in Russia but emigrated ology, periods of slow, steady progress are separated by the USAand ended up working at Rutgers University. great leaps in technology and discovery. A great leap Waksmanis often called "The Father of American Soil occurred when Leeuwenhoekmanufactured the first really Microbiology,"but you rarely hear about his early workon good microscopes. A great leap occurred whenKoch devel-

34 ¯ d. Nat. Resour.Life Sci. Educ.,Vol. 25, no. 1, 1996 COMETABOLICDREAMS

Fig. 17. Cometabolicdreams. Fig. 19. Genejockey.

WELLBERT, I WARNEDYOU NOT TO HANGAROUND THE HUMAN I SAIDBRING A r".~ ~ GENOMESEQUENCING PROJECT. SCALPELYOU BLOCKHEAD/

Fig. 18. Earlymolecular biologists lacked a senseof scale. Fig. 20. Thehuman genome project. oped pure culture techniques. Another great leap occurred Soil microbiologists have even gone molecular in the whenWilliam Payne at the University of Georgia and Roger modernera. Initially, there were someproblems with scale Knowles at McGill University in Canada independently (Fig. 18). Eventually, however, molecular genetics became announcedin 1976 that acetylene (C2Hz)blocked the reduc- fairly routine and its practitioners acquired the moniker tion of nitrous oxide (N20) to nitrogen gas o (as with (name) of Gene Jockey (molecular engineers) in muchof soil science, a Russian namedR.I. Fedorova had (molecularbiology talk) (Fig. 19). already reported this in 1973). Suddenly, soil microbiolo- gists such as James Tiedje at MichiganState University, THE FUTURE? whowere studying denitrification (the reduction and loss of Whatdoes the future hold for soil microbiology? Soil NO~as gaseous N), could generate almost limitless amounts microbiologists have contributed to mappingthe genomeof of N20~laughinggas. Just as suddenly was the increase in very relaxed soil microbiologistsinterested in denitrification Escherichiacoli, and it is nowpossible to think about map- (Fig. 16). ping the humangenome. For example, several bazillion dol- By the early 20th century, organismswere evolving that lars are annually allocated to discovering the elusive male directly affect soil microbiologytoday. Of course, I’m talk- pattern baldness gene (Fig. 20). ing about organic chemists. Someof the cleverly designed Perhaps one day it will becomedifficult to distinguish compoundsthey’ve created have a commonfeature--peo- soil microbiologists from the organisms they study (Fig. ple would like to get rid of them as soon as possible. 21). If that happens, we mayfind that instead of the soil microbiologists studying microbes, the microbes will study Consequently, the modernera is full of soil microbiology labs, such as Martin Alexander’slab at Corneil University, the soil microbiologists(Fig. 22). that are dedicated to unraveling the decompositionof these organic molecules through such pathways as Ortho CONCLUSION Cleavage, Meta Cleavage, and the lesser knownBeaver I offer this cartoon history of soil microbiologyas both a Cleavage(Fig. 17). slide showin class and as reserve material in the library.

Nat. Resour.Life Sci. Educ.,VoL 25, no. 1, 1996. 35 WHEN MICROBIOLOGISTS GET TOO CLOSE TO THEIR WORK

STOCK! COULD THAT STRANGE MULTICELLULAg I'M A BACILLUS CREATURE BE RESPONSIBLE JIM. NOT GENETICIST VIROLOGIST THE DESTRUCTION A DOCTOR. OF ALL THOSE PLANETS? BONES? THAT WOULD BE A LOGICAL ASSUMPTION CAPTAIN.

Fig. 22. Microbial dreams.

their commentary on this article and to S.B. Coyne for her editorial remarks. This work forms the introductory portion of a larger manual, So You Want to Be a Soil Microbiologist, BACTERIOLOGIST MYCOLOGIST that is used as supplemental reading in introductory soil microbiology. Fig. 21. When microbiologists get too close to their work.

Although I've never had enough students to justify separate class sections, thereby testing whether this method really improves learning, few students miss exam questions based on historical figures. Anecdotal response has always been favorable. This technique is a useful twist on the idea of multimedia presentations. It should apply to teaching any natural sci- ence that can utilize an image to convey a concept or fact. It's simple, requires minimal drawing skills (most students seem to overlook artistic incompetence), and is entertain- ing—if not for the students, for me personally. That, of course, is one of my goals in teaching soil microbiology. I want students to leam, but I want to enjoy it too.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to the students, staff, and faculty at the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University for

36 • J. Nat. Resour. Life Sci. Educ., Vol. 25, no. 1, 1996