David Perkins (geneticist)
Encyclopedia
David Dexter Perkins was an American geneticist
, a member of the faculty of Stanford University
for more than 58 years, from 1948 until his death in 2007. He received his PhD in Zoology in 1949 from Columbia University
. A member of the National Academy of Sciences
, he served as President of the Genetics Society of America
in 1977. In a scientific career that spanned more than six decades, Perkins collaborated on more than 300 papers. His associates included many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who went on to scientific careers throughout the world.
since 1941 in collaboration with George Beadle. In this way, he was connected to the very earliest research with Neurospora. Throughout his career, he continued to work with Neurospora crassa, which he often championed as a model organism
. At the time that he died in 2007, a substantial percentage of all researchers in the world who were working with Neurospora crassa
had either trained with or collaborated with Perkins or one of his students or associates.
Perkins is best known for his research into the control and regulation of cell division and sexual reproduction in fungi. One of the advantages to Neurospora as a model organism is that it undergoes both sexual and asexual reproduction.
Geneticist
A geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...
, a member of the faculty of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
for more than 58 years, from 1948 until his death in 2007. He received his PhD in Zoology in 1949 from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. A member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, he served as President of the Genetics Society of America
Genetics Society of America
The Genetics Society of America is a scholarly membership society of more than 4000 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931...
in 1977. In a scientific career that spanned more than six decades, Perkins collaborated on more than 300 papers. His associates included many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who went on to scientific careers throughout the world.
Scientific career
Upon his arrival at Stanford, he began a collaboration with Edward Tatum, who had been working with Neurospora crassaNeurospora crassa
Neurospora crassa is a type of red bread mold of the phylum Ascomycota. The genus name, meaning "nerve spore" refers to the characteristic striations on the spores. The first published account of this fungus was from an infestation of French bakeries in 1843. N...
since 1941 in collaboration with George Beadle. In this way, he was connected to the very earliest research with Neurospora. Throughout his career, he continued to work with Neurospora crassa, which he often championed as a model organism
Model organism
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are in vivo models and are widely used to...
. At the time that he died in 2007, a substantial percentage of all researchers in the world who were working with Neurospora crassa
Neurospora crassa
Neurospora crassa is a type of red bread mold of the phylum Ascomycota. The genus name, meaning "nerve spore" refers to the characteristic striations on the spores. The first published account of this fungus was from an infestation of French bakeries in 1843. N...
had either trained with or collaborated with Perkins or one of his students or associates.
Perkins is best known for his research into the control and regulation of cell division and sexual reproduction in fungi. One of the advantages to Neurospora as a model organism is that it undergoes both sexual and asexual reproduction.
- Working with associates, Perkins identified many of the genes that control meiotic cell divisionMeiosisMeiosis is a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. The cells produced by meiosis are gametes or spores. The animals' gametes are called sperm and egg cells....
in Neurospora crassa. In the process, he made fundamental discoveries about the cellular regulation and control of meosis. - Building on his discoveries about meiosis, Perkins carried out investigations into ascosporeAscosporeAn ascospore is a spore contained in an ascus or that was produced inside an ascus. This kind of spore is specific to fungi classified as ascomycetes ....
genesis. Ascospore genesis, a form of sexual reproduction common to many fungi, has parallels with oogenesisOogenesisOogenesis, ovogenesis or oögenesis is the creation of an ovum . It is the female form of gametogenesis. The male equivalent is spermatogenesis...
and spermatogenesisSpermatogenesisSpermatogenesis is the process by which male primary germ cells undergo division, and produce a number of cells termed spermatogonia, from which the primary spermatocytes are derived. Each primary spermatocyte divides into two secondary spermatocytes, and each secondary spermatocyte into two...
in mammals and other chordates. Many of his papers in this area were concerned with genetic recombinationGenetic recombinationGenetic recombination is a process by which a molecule of nucleic acid is broken and then joined to a different one. Recombination can occur between similar molecules of DNA, as in homologous recombination, or dissimilar molecules, as in non-homologous end joining. Recombination is a common method...
, with the rearrangement of genes on paired chromosomes that occurs during reproduction, a phenomenon known as crossing overChromosomal crossoverChromosomal crossover is an exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes. It is one of the final phases of genetic recombination, which occurs during prophase I of meiosis in a process called synapsis. Synapsis begins before the synaptonemal complex develops, and is not completed...
. Perkins developed techniques for mapping genesGênesGênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
and centromeres on chromosomes based on the occasional errors, such as duplications and translocationsChromosomal translocationIn genetics, a chromosome translocation is a chromosome abnormality caused by rearrangement of parts between nonhomologous chromosomes. A gene fusion may be created when the translocation joins two otherwise separated genes, the occurrence of which is common in cancer. It is detected on...
, that occur in recombination. - He trained many scientists to work with Neurospora crassa, and wrote several papers on working with, caring for, and maintaining Neurospora under laboratory conditions. He was instrumental in establishing and supporting the Fungal Genetics Stock CenterFungal Genetics Stock CenterEstablished in 1960, the Fungal Genetics Stock Center is the main open repository for genetically characterized fungi. The FGSC is a member of the World Federation for Culture Collections and the US Federation of Culture Collections.-Holdings:...
. In 1968, he began a project to obtain wild type Neurospora at tropical and subtropical sites throughout the world. Perkins and his associates surveyed and collected more than 5,000 specimens of Neurospora and other fungi growing in the wild. Later, he initiated work on what would eventually become a worldwide resource for geneticists, The Neurospora Compendium: Chromosomal Loci. Published most recently in 2001, it serves as a reference for mutations and their loci in the Neurospora genome.