Allan M. Campbell
Allan M. Campbell | |
---|---|
Born | April 27, 1929 |
Died | April 19, 2018 | (aged 88)
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Illinois |
Known for | Pioneering work on Lambda phage |
Spouse | Alice del Campillo Campbell |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Microbiology, Genetics |
Institutions | University of Rochester, Stanford University |
Doctoral advisor | Sol Spiegelman |
Allan McCulloch Campbell (April 27, 1929 – April 19, 2018) was an American microbiologist and geneticist and the Barbara Kimball Browning Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at Stanford University.[1][2] His pioneering work on Lambda phage helped to advance molecular biology in the late 20th century.[3] An important collaborator and member of his laboratory at Stanford University was biochemist Alice del Campillo Campbell, his wife.[1]
Education
Campbell earned his bachelor's degree at the
Career
From 1953-1957 Campbell was on the faculty of the
In 1958 he married Alice del Campillo, a Ph.D. student in biochemistry at the University of Michigan. They spent the year after their marriage working in Paris.[6] The two worked closely together throughout their careers, investigating research questions such as the encoding of heat-sensitive endolysin and the biosynthesis and regulation of biotin.[1][3]
Campbell spent the next nine years on the faculty of the University of Rochester, where he made significant discoveries about lambda phage.[1] [5][7]
In 1968 Campbell joined the Department of Biology at Stanford University, where he led his own laboratory.[1] He was appointed to the Barbara Kimball Browning endowed chair in 1992.[2]
Campbell was the editor of the Annual Review of Genetics from 1985 to 2012.[8][9][10]
Research
Campbell's research has concentrated on the genetics of bacteria and their viruses, especially the integration of viral DNA into host chromosomes. His most prominent discovery was the proposal of the “Campbell model” of virus insertion, where viral DNA is inserted into the host chromosome, becoming covalently bonded to the bacterial DNA, and then remains dormant until activation. Campbell's research was focused on a specific bacterial virus, phage lambda, and its host bacterium E. coli,[11] but the model provided insights into how extrachromosomal DNA can be inserted and excised in other organisms.[7][12][13]
This model was proposed in the book Episomes published in 1968, the first comprehensive treatment of plasmid biology. It was described as "a wide-ranging and critical evaluation of the experimental foundation of the episome concept".[14]
While study of the regulation of integration and excision of phage lambda in
Background on phage lambda and lysogeny
Early studies on bacterial viruses began after the discovery by Twort and d’Herelle of ‘filterable agents’ which were able to destroy bacteria. These were demonstrated by creating a lawn of bacteria on appropriate media, mixing with these ‘filterable agents’ and then observing areas of destroyed cells seen as cleared circular areas (plaques) on the lawn. These plaques were interpreted as the result of a single agent infecting a bacterial cell, reproducing in the cell and then bursting open to infect surrounding cells, repeating the process until a clear circular area of destroyed cells becomes visible to the unaided eye. These filterable agents were named bacteriophages (eaters of bacteria) or phage for short.[15]
The 1940s produced the first pictures of bacterial viruses using electron microscopy produced the first photos of bacterial viruses, and research on the mechanism of infection and reproduction dramatically increased. One of the focal points of this research was Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, where a ‘phage group’ led by Salvador Luria, Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey and others met in the summers for research and training of new investigators.[16]
In 1951 Esther Lederberg discovered lambda phage, which had an unusual characteristic.[17] While lambda could infect and reproduce in some strains of its host bacterium E. coli, other strains seemed immune to infection. However, when the immune strains were mixed with non-immune strains, occasionally lambda phage could be observed infecting the non-immune strains. Further research suggested that the immune strains contained a dormant copy of the lambda genome which protected it from infection, but that dormant copy could be activated into the active viral state to begin a new round of infection. This dormant phase was called the ‘lysogenic’ state and the actively infectious state was called the ‘lytic’ state. The dormant form of the lambda genome was called the ‘prophage’.[7]
Study of phage lambda over the next 50 years provided valuable insights into virus life cycles, [18] the regulation and expression of genetic material,[19] and the mechanism of integration and excision of genetic material into chromosomal locations.[7]
Allan Campbell's contribution to the field with the ‘Campbell model’ of integration and excision marked a major step forward in the understanding of this process.[20]
Honors
Campbell was an elected member of the
Campbell received the 2004 Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Microbiology at the society's 104th general meeting in New Orleans on Monday, May 24, 2004. Campbell delivered the Abbott-ASM Award Lecture and was honored at a dinner ceremony that evening. The award includes a $20,000 cash prize and a commemorative piece.[24]
In honoring Campbell, ASM officials cited his "exceptional insights and achievements in the field of molecular genetics - a career of groundbreaking research that has had a profound influence on several fields, including molecular cloning and gene therapy."[24]
Selected publications
- Campbell, Allan M. (1963). "Episomes". In Caspari, E.W.; Thoday, J.M. (eds.). Advances in Genetics. Vol. 11. New York, N.Y.: Academic Press. pp. 101–145. ISBN 9780120176113.
- Campbell, A.; Berg, D.; Botstein, D.; Lederberg, E.M.; Novick, R.P.; Starlinger, P.; Szybalski, W. (1977). "Nomenclature of transposable elements in prokaryotes". DNA insertion elements, plasmids, and episomes. [Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.]: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. pp. 15–22. ISBN 9780879691189.
- Campbell, A.; Berg, D.; Botstein, D.; Lederberg, E.M.; Novick, R.P.; Starlinger, P.; Szybalski, W. (March 1979). "Nomenclature of transposable elements in prokaryotes". Gene. 5 (3): 197–206. PMID 467979.
- Campbell, A.; Starlinger, P.; Berg, D.; Botstein, D.; Lederberg, E.M.; Novick, R.P.; Szybalski, W. (July 1979). "Nomenclature of transposable elements in prokaryotes" (PDF). Plasmid. 2 (3): 466–473. PMID 384423.
- Campbell, Allan (December 2007). "Phage Integration and Chromosome Structure. A Personal History". Annual Review of Genetics. 41 (1): 1–11. PMID 17474874. Retrieved 17 September 2021. (Note: After Esther Lederberg's death in November 2006, Campbell published "Phage Integration and Chromosome Structure. A Personal History" with the following dedication: "This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Esther M. Lederberg (1922-2006) whose early work laid some of the ground for the author's research described herein.")
References
- ^ a b c d e f Feiss, Michael; Cleary, Patrick; Court, Donald; Adhya, Sankar (2021). Allan M. Campbell 1929–2018, A Biographical Memoir (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Allan McCulloch Campbell - View Obituary & Service Information". Skylawn. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ a b Than, Ker (May 1, 2018). "Stanford microbiologist Allan Campbell dies at 88". Stanford News. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Oral History | Allan Campbell". Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ PMID 23275864.
- ^ "Alice Campbell May 30, 1928 - November 26, 2019". Skylawn. 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ PMID 25742714.
- . Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- .
- ^ "CO-EDITORS OF THE ANNUAL REVIEW OF GENETICS - VOLUME 46, 2012". Annual Reviews. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ PMID 15590784. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Falkow, Stanley. "Microbial Genomics: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Part II". Microbiology Society. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- S2CID 247938414. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- S2CID 85273254. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- PMID 23973944.
- ^ Coming of Phage: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first phage course (PDF). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 1995. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ "Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg: Published Works".
- PMID 26946976. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- PMID 23812753.
- ISBN 9780716749394. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Allan Campbell". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ "Allan McCulloch Campbell". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ "Historic Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ a b c Shwartz, Mark (30 April 2004). "Campbell to receive American Society for Microbiology lifetime achievement award". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 5 April 2022.