Albert Francis Blakeslee

Albert Francis Blakeslee (November 9, 1874 – November 16, 1954) was an American botanist. He is best known for his research on the poisonous jimsonweed plant and the sexuality of fungi. He was the brother of the Far East scholar George Hubbard Blakeslee.

For the politician, see Albert P. Blakeslee.

Albert Francis Blakeslee
Albert Francis Blakeslee and Sophia A. Satina
BornNovember 9, 1874
Geneseo, New York
DiedNovember 16, 1954 (1954-11-17) (aged 80)
Northampton, Massachusetts
Education Wesleyan University, Harvard University (Ph.D.), University of Halle-Wittenberg
Known forUse of jimsonweed as a model organism
SpouseMargaret Dickson Bridges
Parents
  • Francis Durbin Blakeslee (father)
  • Augusta Miranda Hubbard Blakeslee (mother)
RelativesGeorge Hubbard Blakeslee (brother)
AwardsBowdoin Prize
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
InstitutionsCarnegie Institution, Smith College
Doctoral studentsKathleen Margaret Cole
Author abbrev. (botany)Blakeslee

Early life and education

Albert Francis Blakeslee was born on November 9, 1874 in Geneseo, New York, to Augusta Miranda Hubbard Blakeslee and Francis Durbin Blakeslee, a Methodist minister.[1]

Blakeslee attended Wesleyan University, graduating in 1896. At Wesleyan, Blakeslee played several sports and won academic prizes in mathematics and chemistry.[1]

He received a master's degree from Harvard University in 1900 and a doctorate in 1904. He also studied at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany from 1904 to 1906.[2]

Career

After graduating from Wesleyan, Blakeslee taught at the Montpelier Seminary in Vermont, as well as at the East Greenwich Academy.[1]

His first professorship was at the Connecticut Agricultural College, now known as the University of Connecticut. He was hired by the Carnegie Institution in 1915, eventually becoming its director.

In 1941, Blakeslee retired from the Carnegie Institution and returned to academia, accepting a professorship at Smith College. He would go on to direct the Smith College Genetics Experimentation Station.[1]

Datura research

At Smith, he performed his research on jimsonweed. Blakeslee used the jimsonweed plant as a model organism for his genetic research. His experiments included using colchicine to achieve an increase in the number of chromosomes, which opened up a new field of research,[3] creating artificial polyploids and aneuploids, and studying the phenotypic effects of polyploidy and of individual chromosomes.

Blakeslee was a leading figure in the genetics world in the decades before and after World War I. He worked with various plant and animal species, but finally decided on Datura. To farmers it was a stinking, noxious weed. In fact some people were seriously poisoned when they ate tomatoes grown from a scion that had been grafted onto a Jimson weed stock. But to Blakeslee Datura was “the very best plant with which to discover the principles of heredity.”[4]

Personal life

Blakeslee married Margaret Dickson Bridges in 1919.[1]

Blakeslee died in Northampton, Massachusetts on November 16, 1954. He was 80 years old.[1]

Awards and legacy

Blakeslee was awarded the Bowdoin Prize for this discovery of sexual fusion in fungi.[1]

He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1924,[5] the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1929,[6] and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1940.[7]

Selected works

References
  1. "Collection: Albert Francis Blakeslee Papers | Smith College Finding Aids". findingaids.smith.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  2. Stafleu, F.A.; Cowan, R.S. (1976–1988). Taxonomic literature: A selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types. Second Edition. Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema and Holkema; Available online through Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
  3. Avery, A.G. (1959). Blakeslee: the genus Datura. New York: Ronald Press Co.
  4. Crow, J F (September 1997). "Birth defects, Jimson weeds and bell curves". Genetics. UNITED STATES. 147 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1093/genetics/147.1.1. ISSN 0016-6731. PMC 1208093. PMID 9286663.
  5. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  6. "Albert Blakeslee". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  7. "Albert Francis Blakeslee". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. February 9, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  8. International Plant Names Index.  Blakeslee.
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