Eugene Rosenberg () (October 16, 1935) is a microbiologist at the Faculty of Life Sciences at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, an expert in the field of applied

environmental microbiology ''Environmental Microbiology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal focused on microbial interactions and microbial processes in the environment. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell. Until January 2024, it was an official journal of the S ...

, in particular his work on

Myxobacteria The myxobacteria ("slime bacteria") are a group of bacteria that predominantly live in the soil and feed on insoluble organic substances. The myxobacteria have very large genomes relative to other bacteria, e.g. 9–10 million nucleotides except ...

,Yang, Zhaomin and Penelope I. Higgs (eds.), ''Myxobacteria: Genomics, Cellular and Molecular Biology'' (Portland, OR: Caister Academic Press, 2014) microorganisms to combat pollution (bioremediation), and the

Hologenome theory of evolution The hologenome theory of evolution recasts the individual animal or plant (and other multicellular organisms) as a community or a " holobiont" – the host plus all of its symbiotic microbes. Consequently, the collective genomes of the holobiont ...

Early life and education

Rosenberg was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1935, grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and immigrated to Israel in 1970. He received his Bachelor of Science from the

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

(UCLA) and his Ph.D. from the Department of

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, New York (1961). His doctoral thesis, under the supervision of Steven Zamenhof, describes the chemical structures of the capsules of

Hemophilus influenzae ''Haemophilus influenzae'' (formerly called Pfeiffer's bacillus or ''Bacillus influenzae'') is a Gram-negative, Motility, non-motile, Coccobacillus, coccobacillary, facultative anaerobic organism, facultatively anaerobic, Capnophile, capnophili ...

, types B, E, and F. Rosenberg went on to postdoctoral research in

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

under the guidance of Lord Todd in

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(1962). Between 1962 and 1970 he was first Assistant and then associate professor of

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

at UCLA, concentrating on the biochemistry of

Myxococcus xanthus ''Myxococcus xanthus'' is a gram-negative, bacillus (or rod-shaped) species of myxobacteria that is typically found in the top-most layer of soil. These bacteria lack flagella; rather, they use pili for motility. ''M. xanthus'' is well-known fo ...

. In 1970 he has been a member of the academic staff in the Department of

Molecular Microbiology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. Though cells and other microsco ...

and

Biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

, where he was appointed Full Professor in 1975 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". ...

in 2006. He has held the Gol Chair in Applied and Environmental Microbiology since 1989. Recently, he served as the editor-in-chief for The Prokaryotes, a comprehensive reference encyclopedia on Bacteria and Archea.

Academic

Rosenberg's early work in Israel focused on myxobacteriology, hydrocarbon microbiology, surface-active polymers from

Acinetobacter ''Acinetobacter'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the wider class of Gammaproteobacteria. ''Acinetobacter'' species are oxidase-negative, exhibit twitching motility, and occur in pairs under magnification. They are important ...

, and

bioremediation Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi in mycoremediation, and plants in phytoremediation), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, wate ...

. In collaboration with his department colleagues Eliora Z. Ron and David Gutnik, he introduced the pioneering use of

microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

and bioemulsifiers to treat oil pollution in oil tankers, pipelines and on beaches In later years he collaborated with Yossi Loya (Zoology Dept.,

) to research coral disease. They demonstrated for the first time that

coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to loss of Symbiosis, symbiotic algae and Photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water temperature, light, ...

is the result of an infectious disease and that a rise in temperature due to global warming causes pathogenic micro organisms to be more active and cause infectious epidemic diseases. His most recent work has developed the "

hologenome The hologenome theory of evolution recasts the individual animal or plant (and other multicellular organisms) as a community or a " holobiont" – the host plus all of its symbiotic microbes. Consequently, the collective genomes of the holobiont ...

concept of evolution" (together with Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg). This groundbreaking concept posits that the

holobiont A holobiont is an assemblage of a Host (biology), host and the many other species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit through symbiosis, though there is controversy over this discreteness. The components of a h ...

(host plus all of its associated microorganisms) and its hologenome (sum of the genetic information of the host and its symbiotic microorganisms), function as a unique biological entity and therefore as a level of selection in evolution. According to the hologenome concept microbial symbionts and the host interact in a cooperative way that affects the health of the holobiont within its environment, and the sum of these cooperative interactions characterizes the holobiont as a unique biological entity. He contends that under environmental stress, the

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

can change more rapidly and in response to more processes than the host organism alone and thus influences the evolution of the holobiont.

Prebiotics Prebiotic may refer to: * Prebiotic (chemistry), inorganic or organic chemistry in the natural environment before the advent of life on Earth * Prebiotic (nutrition), non-digestible food ingredients See also * Probiotic Probiotics are live ...

probiotics Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the microbiota in the Gut microbiota, gut. Probiotics are considered GRAS, generally safe to consume, but may cause bacteria– ...

, synbiotics and

phage therapy Phage therapy, viral phage therapy, or phagotherapy is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages for the treatment of pathogenic bacterial infections. This therapeutic approach emerged at the beginning of the 20th century but was progressively r ...

are conceived as applied aspects of the hologenome concept.

Awards

In 1983-1984 Rosenberg was appointed as a Fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1992 he was awarded with the Pan Lab Prize of the Society of Industrial Microbiology and in 1993 he was awarded as a Fogarty International scholar at the National Institute Of Health (

NIH The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

). Jointly with Prof.Eliora Ron he received the Israel Prize for a ''Beautiful Israel'' in 1995. In 2002 he was awarded the Sakov Prize for ecological research and in 2003, the Procter & Gamble Prize of the

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

(ASM) and together with Yossi Loya, the Landau Prize by Mifaal Hapais in Life Sciences. In 2018 (with Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg), he received the Karl August Möbius Prize for lifetime achievements in symbiosis. Rosenberg has supervised numerous graduate students and postdocs. He is a Fellow of the

American Academy of Microbiology American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. He is also a Founding Member of the European Society of Microbiology. He is the author of approximately 287 research papers and reviews, 15 books, and 16 patents.

Selected publications

Books # Rosenberg, E. and Zilber-Rosenberg, I. (2024). “Where do We Come From? The Origin and Evolution of Life”. Austin MaCauley Publishers, London. # Rosenberg, E. (2021). “Microbiomes”. Springer, Heidelberg. # Rosenberg, E. (2017). “It’s in Your DNA”. Elsevier Publishers, Oxford, UK. # Rosenberg, E, Zilber-Rosenberg, I. (2014). ''The Hologenome Concept: Human, Animal and Plant Microbiota.'' Springer. # Rosenberg, E, Zilber-Rosenberg, I. (2014). ''The Hologenome Concept: Human, Animal and Plant Microbiota.'' Springer. # Rosenberg, E., E, F, DeLong, S. Lory, E. Stackebrandt, F. Thompson, Eds. (2013). ''The Prokaryotes''. # Rosenberg, E. and U. Gophna, eds. (2011). ''Beneficial Microorganisms in Multicellular Life Forms'' Springer, Heidelberg. # Rosenberg, E. and Y. Loya, eds. (2004). ''Coral Health and Disease'' Berlin Springer. # Rosenberg, E., ed. (1998). ''Microbial Ecology and Infectious Disease'' Washington, DC: ASM Press American Society for Microbiology. # Rosenberg, E., ed. (1993). ''Microorganisms to Combat Pollution '' Springer. # Rosenberg, E., ed. (1984).''Myxobacteria:Development and cell interactions'' Springer. . # Rosenberg, E. and I. R. Cohen, eds. (1983). ''Microbial Biology'' Philadelphia: Saunders College. # Rosenberg, E. (1971). ''Cell and Molecular Biology: An Appreciation'' Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New York. Articles and Reviews * Rosenberg, E. and Ron. E (2014). Enhanced bioremediation of oil spills in the sea. Current Opinions in Biotechnology, 27-191-194. * * * * * * * * * * * * Rosenberg, E. (1993). Microbial diversity as a source of useful biopolymers. (Pan Award) J. Ind. Microbiol. 11: 131–137. * Rosenberg, E., J.M. Porter, P.D. Nathan, A. Major and M. Varon (1984). Antibiotic TA: An adherent antibiotic. Bio/Technology 2:796-799. * Rosenberg, M., D.L. Gutnick and E. Rosenberg (1980). Adherence to hydrocarbons: A simple method for measuring cell-surface hydrophobicity. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 9:29-33 Citation Classic. April 22, 1992. * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Eugene 1935 births Israeli microbiologists Israeli Jews Living people