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Ernest Robert Sears

{{short description|American geneticist}}

{{infobox academic

|image =

|caption =

|birth_date = October 15, 1910

|birth_place = Bethel, Polk County, Oregon

|death_date = {{death-date and age|February 15, 1991|October 15, 1910}}

|death_place = Missouri

|discipline = Plant genetics, wheat cytogenetics

|occupation = Geneticist, botanist

|education = Oregon State University
Harvard University

|workplaces = USDA, University of Missouri

}}

Ernest Robert Sears (October 15, 1910, Bethel, Polk County, Oregon – February 15, 1991) was an American geneticist, botanist, pioneer of plant genetics, and leading expert on wheat cytogenetics.{{cite journal|author=Riley, Ralph|title=Ernest Robert Sears 1910—1991|journal=National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs|volume=67|pages=344–392|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=National Academy Press|year=1995|url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/sears-ernest.pdf}} Sears and Sir Ralph Riley (1924–1999) are perhaps the two most important founders of chromosome engineering{{cite journal|author=Sears, E.R.|year=1972|title=Chromosome engineering in wheat, Stadler Genetics Symposia, Vol. 4|website=University of Missouri (mospace.umsystem.edu)|url=https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/handle/10355/67208}}{{cite book|editor1=Molnár-Láng, Márta|editor2=Ceoloni, Carla|editor3=Doležel, Jaroslav|title=Alien Introgression in Wheat: Cytogenetics, Molecular Biology, and Genomics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T23_CgAAQBAJ|date=20 November 2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-23494-6}} in plant breeding.{{cite book|editor=Janick, Jules|chapter=Dedication: Ernest Robert Sears (1910–1991) Geneticist par Excellence, Cytogeneticist Extraordinaire, and a Good Man |author=George P. Rédei|title=Plant Breeding Reviews|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2b8arHr8n-8C&pg=PA11|date=22 April 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-65000-4|pages=1–22}}{{cite book|editor=Lupton, F. G. H.|title=Wheat Breeding: Its scientific basis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jbqCAAAQBAJ|date=14 November 2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-94-009-3131-2|postscript=; pbk reprint of 1987 1st edition}}

Biography

After graduating from high school in 1928, Sears graduated in 1932 with a B.S. in agriculture from Oregon State University. At Harvard University he graduated in genetics with an M.A. in 1932 and a Ph.D. in 1936. Upon graduation he became a geneticist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the University of Missouri, where he worked on wheat cytogenics (as well as wheat evolution, phylogeny, and systematics) for the next 55 years until his death.{{cite web|title=Sears, Ernest R. (1910-1991), Papers|website=The State Historical Society of Missouri|url=https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C3892.pdf}}

Sears was a pioneer of methods of transferring agriculturally desirable genes into cultivated wheat from its wild relatives. Notably, he did important work on wheat genes for resistance to powdery mildew, common bunt, wheat leaf rust, and stem rust. The methods pioneered by Sears are also important for introducing genes for plant resistance against insects.

Sears recognized the importance of nullisomics in wheat.{{cite journal|author=Longwell, J. H.|author2=Sears, E. R.|year=1963|title=Nullisomics in tetraploid wheat|journal=The American Naturalist|volume=97|issue=897|pages=401–403|doi=10.1086/282290|jstor=2459231|bibcode=1963ANat...97..401L |s2cid=84934765}} He was the author or coauthor of more than 100 articles in refereed journals, as well as 6 book chapters.

Sears retired from the USDA in 1980 but continued to work in the University of Missouri's greenhouses and in his campus office until his death in 1991. He credited part of his success to working with Lewis Stadler and Barbara McClintock. For 40 years Sears collaborated in research with his second wife.

In 1981, Sears became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.{{cite web |title = About Us |publisher = World Cultural Council |url = https://www.consejoculturalmundial.org/about-us/members/ |access-date = October 27, 2020 }}

He married in 1936 Caroline Fredericka Eichorn (1912–2001).{{cite news|date=April 9, 2001|title=Obituary. Caroline Eichorn Sears|newspaper=Quad-City Times}} His first marriage produced one son. After divorcing his first wife, he married in 1950 Liese Maria ("Lotti" or "Lottie") Steinitz (1916–1995). His second marriage produced one son and two daughters. In May 2001 the University of Missouri opened the Ernest R. and Lotti M. S. Sears Plant Growth Facility.{{cite web|author=Hardin, Ben|title=Plant Growth Facility Named for Famous Scientific Team|website=USDA Agricultural Research Service (ars.usda.gov)|date=May 18, 2001|url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2001/plant-growth-facility-named-for-famous-scientific-team/}}

Awards and honors

Selected publications

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1937

|title=Cytological phenomena connected with self-sterility in flowering plants

|journal=Genetics

|volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=130–181

|doi=10.1093/genetics/22.1.130

|pmc=1208741

|pmid=17246827

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1939

|title=Cytogenetic studies with polyploid species of wheat. I. Chromosomal aberrations in the progeny of a haploid of Triticum vulgare

|journal=Genetics

|volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=509–523

|doi=10.1093/genetics/24.4.509

|pmid=17246935

|pmc=1209050

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1944

|title=Cytogenetic studies with polyploid species of wheat. II. Additional chromosomal aberrations in Triticum vulgare

|journal=Genetics

|volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=232–246

|doi=10.1093/genetics/29.3.232

|pmc=1209244

|pmid=17247118

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=McFadden |first1=E. S.

|last2=Sears |first2=E. R.

|author2-mask=2

|year=1946

|title=The Origin of Triticum spelta and Its Free-Threshing Hexaploid Relatives

|journal=Journal of Heredity

|volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=81–89; 107–116

|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a105590

|pmid=20985728

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Rodenhiser |first2=H. A.

|year=1948

|title=Nullisomic analysis of stem-rust resistance in Triticum vulgare var. Timstein

|journal=Genetics

|volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=123–124

|pmid=18933701

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1953

|title=Addition of the genome of Haynaldia villosa to Triticum aestivum

|journal=American Journal of Botany

|volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=168–174

|doi=10.2307/2438774

|jstor=2438774

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1953

|title=Nullisomic analysis in common wheat

|journal=American Naturalist

|volume=87 |issue=835 |pages=245–252

|doi=10.1086/281780

|bibcode=1953ANat...87..245S

|s2cid=84944293

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|year=1954

|title=The aneuploids of common wheat

|journal=Mo. Agric. Exp. STN. Res. Bull.

|volume=572

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|year=1956

|title=The transfer of leaf-rust resistance from Aegilops umbellulata to wheat

|journal=Brookhaven Symp. Biol.

|volume=9 |pages=1–22

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Loegering |first2=W. Q.

|last3=Rodenhiser |first3=H. A.

|year=1957

|title=Identification of chromosomes carrying genes for stem rust resistance in four varieties of wheat

|journal=Agronomy Journal

|volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=208–212

|doi=10.2134/agronj1957.00021962004900040012x

|bibcode=1957AgrJ...49..208S

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Okato |first2=M.

|year=1958

|chapter=Intergenomic chromosome relationships in hexaploid wheat

|title=Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress on Genetics

|volume=2

|pages=258–259

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1962

|title=The use of telocentric chromosomes in linkage mapping

|journal=Genetics

|volume=47 |page=983

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Shama Rao |first1=H. K.

|last2=Sears |first2=E. R.

|author2-mask=2

|year=1964

|title=Chemical mutagenesis in Triticum aestivum

|journal=Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis

|volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=387–399

|doi=10.1016/0027-5107(64)90032-6

|bibcode=1964MRFMM...1..387S

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Feldman |first1=M.

|last2=Mello-Sampayo |first2=T.

|last3=Sears |first3=E. R.

|author3-mask=2

|year=1966

|title=Somatic association in Triticum aestivum

|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

|volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=1192–1199

|bibcode=1966PNAS...56.1192F

|doi=10.1073/pnas.56.4.1192

|doi-access=free

|pmid=5230145

|pmc=220038

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1966

|chapter=Chromosome mapping with the aid of telocentrics

|volume=2 |pages=370–381

|title=Proceedings of the 2nd International Wheat Genetics Symposium

|series=Hereditas Supplement

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|chapter=Nullisomic-Tetrasomic Combinations in Hexaploid Wheat

|author1-mask=2

|year=1966

|editor1=R. Riley

|editor2=K. R. Lewis

|title=Chromosome Manipulations and Plant Genetics

|pages=29–45

|location=London

|publisher=Oliver and Boyd

|doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-6561-5_4

|isbn=978-1-4899-6259-1

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Rosalind |first1=Morris

|last2=Sears |first2=E. R.

|author2-mask=2

|year=1967

|chapter=The cytogenetics of wheat and its relatives

|editor1=K. S. Quisenberry

|editor2=L. P. Reitz

|title=Wheat and Wheat Improvement

|pages=19–87

|location=Madison, Wisconsin

|publisher=American Society of Agronomy

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Loegering |first2=W. Q.

|year=1968

|title=Mapping of stem-rust genes Sr9 and Sr16 of wheat

|journal=Crop Science

|volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=371–373

|doi=10.2135/cropsci1968.0011183X000800030032x

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1973

|chapter=Agropyron—wheat transfers induced by homologous pairing

|title=Proceedings of the Fourth International Wheat Genetics Symposium

|pages=191–99

}} (See Agropyron.)

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1975

|title=An induced homoeologous—pairing mutant in Triticum aestivum

|journal=Genetics

|volume=80 |page=74

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1976

|title=Genetic control of chromosome pairing in wheat

|journal=Annual Review of Genetics

|volume=10 |pages=31–51

|doi=10.1146/annurev.ge.10.120176.000335

|pmid=797311

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1977

|title=Genetics Society of Canada Award of Excellence Lecture: An Induced Mutant with Homoeologous Pairing in Common Wheat

|journal=Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology

|volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=585–593

|doi=10.1139/g77-063

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Sears |first2=L. M. S.

|year=1978

|chapter=The telocentric chromosomes of common wheat

|title=Proceedings of the Fifth International Wheat Genetics Symposium

|volume=1 |pages=389–407

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Sears |first2=L. M. S.

|year=1978

|chapter=The telocentric chromosomes of common wheat

|editor=S. Ramanujams

|title=Proceedings of the 5th International Wheat Genetics Symposium

|pages=389–407

|location=New Delhi

|publisher=Indian Agricultural Research Institute

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Loegering |first1=W. Q.

|last2=Sears |first2=E. R.

|author2-mask=2

|year=1981

|title=Genetic control of disease expression in stem rust of wheat

|journal=Phytopathology

|volume=71 |issue=4 |pages=425–428

|doi=10.1094/Phyto-71-425

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1982

|title=A Wheat Mutation Conditioning an Intermediate Level of Homoeologous Chromosome Pairing

|journal=Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology

|volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=715–719

|doi=10.1139/g82-076

}}

  • {{cite book

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|year=1985

|chapter=The transfer of short segments of alien chromosome to wheat

|editor1=R. B. Singh

|editor2=R. M. Singh

|editor3=B. D. Singh

|title=Advances in Cytogenetics and Crop Improvement

|pages=75–79

|location=Ludhiana

|publisher=Kalyani Publishers

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Miller |first2=T. E.

|year=1985

|title=The history of Chinese spring wheat

|journal=Cereal Research Communications

|volume=13 |issue=2/3 |pages=261–263

|jstor=23783009

}}

  • {{cite journal

|last1=Sears |first1=E. R.

|author1-mask=2

|last2=Gustafson |first2=J. P.

|year=1993

|title=Use of radiation to transfer alien chromosome segments to wheat

|journal=Crop Science

|volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=897–901

|doi=10.2135/cropsci1993.0011183X003300050004x

}}

References

  • {{cite web|title=Cytogenetics, phylogeny and evolution of cultivated wheats|author=Gill, B. S.|author2=Friebe, B.|website=fao.org|url=https://www.fao.org/3/y4011e07.htm}}

External links

  • {{cite web|title=Glass Rules: The Ernie and Lottie Sears Plant Growth Facility houses the research of 22 scientists (photos by Nicholas Benner)|date=August 9, 2012|website=Mizzou Magazine, University of Missouri|url=https://mizzoumag.missouri.edu/2012/07/glass-rules/index.html}}

{{Wolf Prize in Agriculture |state=collapsed}}

{{Founding members of the World Cultural Council}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Ernest Robert}}

Category:1910 births

Category:1991 deaths

Category:20th-century American botanists

Category:American geneticists

Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Category:Founding members of the World Cultural Council

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Category:Oregon State University alumni

Category:People from Polk County, Oregon

Category:University of Missouri faculty

Category:Plant geneticists

Category:United States Department of Agriculture people

Category:Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates