Walter H. Burkholder

Walter H. Burkholder was an American plant pathologist who helped establish the role of bacteria as plant pathogens. He was awarded a Ph.D. by Cornell University in 1917 and subsequently appointed as professor of plant pathology.

In 1950 he first described the bacteria, "Pseudomonas cepacia", later "Burkholderia" spp., responsible for causing sour skin disease in onions and colonising the rhizosphere of many plant species. Bacterial strains from the "Burkholderia cepacia complex" (Bcc) are opportunistic pathogens in humans with cystic fibrosis and have been implicated in vertebral osteomyelitis in intravenous drug abusers. [ [http://www.jidc.org/issn1972-2680/current-issue/59-vol-2-no-1-february-2008/152-cervical-osteomyelitis-caused-by-burkholderia-cepacia-after-rhinoplasty Journal of Infection in Developing Countries] ] This complex of at least 9 closely related species or genomovars is currently the focus of research because of their remarkable variability as plant and human pathogens, saprophytes, and biocontrol and bioremediation agents. [ [http://www.apsnet.org/education/feature/BurkholderiaCepacia/ Burkholderia cepacia:Friend or Foe? - Jennifer L. Parke] ]

Burkholder was a member of the Society of American Bacteriologists

References

External links

* [http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.mi.02.100148.002133 Annual Review of Microbiology]
* [http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.py.22.090184.001125 Annual Review of Phytopathology]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_16_172/ai_n21079947 "Some bacteria can cross the line" - Science News, Oct 20, 2007 - Susan Milius]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_1998_Nov_7/ai_53280910 Is natural pesticide too hard on people? - Science News, Nov 7, 1998 - S. Milius]

Bibliography

*"Diseases and Insect and other Pests of the Field Bean in New York" (Cornell Extension Bulletin. no. 58.) - Walter H. Burkholder, Cyrus Richard Crosby