Charles Thom

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This article is about American microbiologist and mycologist. For Malawian professional footballer, see Charles Thom (footballer).

Charles Thom
Born(1872-11-11)November 11, 1872
Minonk, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMay 24, 1956(1956-05-24) (aged 83)
Port Jefferson, New York, U.S.
Resting placeStorrs, Connecticut
Alma materUniversity of Missouri
Known for
Scientific career
Fields
  • Microbiology
  • mycology
Doctoral advisorHoward Ayers
Author abbrev. (botany)Thom

Charles Thom (November 11, 1872 – May 24, 1956) was an American

culture media to grow microorganisms, and, with food chemist James N. Currie, developed a process to mass-produce citric acid using Aspergillus. Thom played an important role in the development of penicillin in World War II
.

Early life

Thom was born in

Presbyterian church. Thom upheld Presbyterian values throughout his life, kept active in church affairs, and became a staunch prohibitionist. His early years spent working on his father's farm instilled the value of a strong work ethic, and first-hand knowledge of agricultural practices that would prove useful in his later career.[1]

After graduating from high school, Thom attended

PhD from the University of Missouri on the topic of fertilization in the ferns Aspidium and Adiantum.[2] This was the first doctorate awarded by that institution.[1][3] Thom married Ethel Winifred Slater in 1906, with whom he had three children (one died during childbirth). Ethel Thom died in October 1942, shortly before his retirement. In 1944 he remarried, to Charlotte J. Bayles, with whom he lived until her death. Thom died two years after Charlotte at his home in Port Jefferson, New York, on May 24, 1956.[1]

Career

In 1902, Thom went to study with

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)— holding various research and administrative positions, until his retirement in 1942. During his employment there, Thom investigated the process of cheese ripening and sought to understand the composition of the microbiological flora required for imparting certain flavors on cheeses. Through this work he isolated and identified the fungi Penicillium camemberti and Penicillium roqueforti.[4]

Thom identified the fungi responsible for imparting flavors to cheeses such as Roquefort.

In 1914, Thom became the Chief of the Microbiological Laboratory at the USDA Bureau of Chemistry, where his job was to study problems with the handling and processing of foods, and to enforce the

catsup, he presented partially rotten tomatoes to the jury, and, concluding his testimony, asked them "Should the American people have to eat these in their catsup?"[1]

Brooklyn, New York. This early work ultimately led to the Department of Agriculture's establishing four Regional Research Laboratories in 1938 that were devoted to industrial mold fermentations.[1]

During his time at the USDA, Thom became a world authority on the genera

American Type Culture Collection, established in 1925.[5]

In 1929,

Penicillium notatum and, in 1941, developed a method to scale up production at the Department of Agriculture's Northern Regional Research Laboratory in Peoria, Illinois, which ultimately resulted in an inexpensive supply of the drug.[8] Fleming's mold was correctly identified as Penicillium rubens in 2011.[9]

"During his active career in the Department of Agriculture [Thom] identified thousands of cultures for other investigators all around the world, taking little cognizance of the credit that he might or might not receive. He was a selfless and devoted scientist and public servant."

Kenneth B. Raper[1]

Thom held his job with the Bureau of Chemistry until 1927, when the position was abolished. He was then appointed Principal Mycologist of the Division of Soil Microbiology for the newly created

Kenneth Raper, they published the Manual of Penicillin in 1940. Thom formally retired in 1942, although he remained active as a consultant and guest speaker until shortly before his death.[1]

Memberships and honors

Thom was the U.S. Delegate to the 1905 International Dairy Congress held in Paris, France. He helped establish a graduate education program at the USDA. In 1907, he became a charter member of the Dairy Association of America, and in 1918, was appointed President of the Bacteriological Association of Washington. He attended the 1935 International Soil Congress in Oxford, England and was Vice President of the 1939 International Microbiological Congress in New York. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a charter member of the Mycological Society of America, and president of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1940 and the Society of Industrial Microbiology in 1950. Thom was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by Lake Forest College in 1936. For his work on penicillin, he and his research group received the Lasker Group Award in 1946, and the USDA Distinguished Service Award in 1947. The same year, he received a gold medal from the Spanish National Research Council for his contributions to microbiology and medicine.[1]

Described taxa

Selected publications

  • Thom, Charles (1906) "Fungi in cheese ripening; Camembert and Roquefort" in USDA Bureau of Animal Industry Bulletin 82 pp. 1–39
  • Thom, Charles (1910) "Cultural studies of species of Penicillium" in USDA Bureau of Animal Industry Bulletin 118 pp. 1–109
  • Thom, Charles; Currie, James N. (1916) "Aspergillus niger group" in Journal of Agricultural Research 7:1 pp. 1–15
  • Thom, Charles; Church, Margaret B. (1918). "Aspergillus fumigatus, A. nidulans, A. terreus n. sp. and their allies". American Journal of Botany. 5 (2): 84–104.
    JSTOR 2435130
    .
  • Thom, Charles; Church, Margaret B. (1921). "Aspergillus flavus, A. oryzae and associated species". American Journal of Botany. 8 (2): 103–126.
    JSTOR 2435149
    .
  • Thom, Charles; Hunter, Albert Clayton (1924). "Hygienic Fundamentals of Food Handling" 228 pp.
  • Thom, Charles; Church, Margaret B. (1926). "The Aspergilli". 272 pp.
  • Thom, Charles (1930). "The Penicillia". 644 pp.
  • Thom, Charles (1954). "The evolution of species concepts in Aspergillus and Penicillium". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 60 (1): 24–34.
    S2CID 42412438
    .

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Raper KB. (1965). "Charles Thom 1872–1956" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs. 38: 309–44.
  2. ^
    JSTOR 3755740
    .
  3. ^ Rogers DP. (1977). A Brief History of Mycology in North America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Printing Office. pp. 30–31.
  4. ^
    PMID 13398356
    .
  5. ISBN 0-521-11295-8
    .
  6. PMC 2048009
    .
  7. ISBN 978-0-85404-634-8
    .
  8. ^ "American Chemical Society International Historic Chemical Landmarks. Discovery and Development of Penicillin, 1928–1945". American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry. 1999. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  9. PMID 22679592
    .

External links
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