Deborah Pierson Delmer is an American

plant pathologist Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

, and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. She was one of the first scientists to discover the enzymes and biochemical mechanisms for

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromat ...

synthesis. Delmer became president of the

American Society of Plant Biologists The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is a non-profit professional society for research and education in plant science with over 4,000 members world-wide. It was founded in 1924, as the American Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP). T ...

(ASPB) as of 1999. She was awarded the 2011 ASPB Leadership in Science Public Service Award and the 2003 Anselme Payen Award.

Career

Delmer earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry with departmental honors at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1963. Later, she attended the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, where she identified the pathway of tryptophan biosynthesis in plants, an area others had not studied, using ''

Nicotiana tabacum ''Nicotiana tabacum'', or cultivated tobacco, is an annually grown herbaceous plant of the genus ''Nicotiana''. ''N. tabacum'' is the most commonly grown species in the genus ''Nicotiana,'' as the plant's leaves are commercially harvested to be ...

'' as a model. She received her Ph.D. in cellular biology in 1968. Delmer then did postdoctoral work with Peter Albersheim at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. She successfully purified the enzyme sucrose synthase and studied its role in synthesizing and degrading sucrose. She also did postdoctoral work at UCSD with biologist Stanley Eli Mills. In 1974, Delmer became a professor at the Plant Research Laboratory of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

. She began studying the mechanisms by which plants polymerize

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

molecules and synthesize

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

for their cell walls, using cotton fiber as a model system. An important discovery demonstrated that both plants and animals use lipids as an intermediate step in protein

glycosylation Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate (or ' glycan'), i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule (a glycosyl acceptor) in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology (but not ...

. As of 1987, Delmer accepted a faculty position at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. Using a combination of approaches from molecular biology and genetics, Delmer and her collaborators developed a

cDNA library A cDNA library is a combination of cloned cDNA (complementary DNA) fragments inserted into a collection of host cells, which constitute some portion of the transcriptome of the organism and are stored as a "library". cDNA is produced from fully t ...

and were the first to identify a plant gene involved in the synthesis of cellulose. As of 1997, Delmer returned to the United States, where she became chair of the Section of

Plant Biology Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empiri ...

at the

. One of her research experiments there determined that sterylglucoside is a primer for the initiation of cellulose synthesis and the creation of a new cellulose chain. In 2002, Delmer became a Director of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, where her work focused primarily on agricultural development in Africa. She has emphasized the need for plant biology to become a translational science and encouraged scientists to address in-the-field problems faced by farmers, such as falling rates of crop production under conditions of stress and low inputs. Delmer sits on the board of

The American Chestnut Foundation The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is a nonprofit American organization dedicated to breeding a blight-resistant American chestnut (''Castanea dentata'') tree and to the reintroduction of this tree to the forests of the Eastern United ...

. She served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

Annual Review of Plant Biology ''Annual Review of Plant Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews. It was first published in 1950 as the ''Annual Review of Plant Physiology''. Sabeeha Merchant has been the editor since 2005, making her the lo ...

'' from 2002-2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delmer, Deborah Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American botanists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American botanists 21st-century American women scientists Indiana University Bloomington alumni University of California, San Diego alumni American women botanists American phytopathologists Women phytopathologists University of Colorado alumni Michigan State University faculty Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem University of California, Davis faculty American women academics Annual Reviews (publisher) editors