Marion Elizabeth Stilwell Cave

Marion Elizabeth Cave (11 February 1904 – 26 September 1995) was an American plant embryologist and cytogeneticist. She obtained her PhD from University of California, Berkeley where she pioneered the approach to distinguish plant taxonomy using genetics. She continued this work at Berkeley as a research associate. While there, she would be the first person to count the chromosomes in algae, earn her a Guggenheim fellowship in 1952. In addition to her research, she was success at obtaining National Science Foundation funding to create a service that would annually inform how many chromosomes each plant species had to help the field of plant cytology flourish. For her contributions, Volume 33 of Madroño, a genus (Marionella) of Delesseriaceae, and a subgenus (Mscavea) of Echeandia were all dedicated to her.

Marion Elizabeth Cave
Born
Marion Elizabeth Stilwell

February 11, 1904
Rochester, NY
DiedSeptember 26, 1995 (aged 91)
California
Alma materA.B. University of Colorado Boulder 1924

A.M.University of Colorado Boulder 1925

PhD University of California, Berkeley 1936
Known forPlant Microphotography, Plant embryology
SpouseRoy Clinton Cave (m. 1928 – 1991)
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship 1952
Scientific career
FieldsBotany, Cytologist, Embryologist, Geneticist
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Berkeley 1936 – 1943

Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs 1944–1945

University of California, Berkeley 1945 – 1981
ThesisCytological and genetical investigations involving Crepis foetida, C. commutata, C. eritreensis, and C. thomsonii
Doctoral advisorErnest Brown Babcock

Early life and education

Cave was born to Anna (née Thompson) and Joseph Stilwell in 1904 in Rochester New York.[1] Shortly thereafter they moved to Colorado where her sister Dorothy Margaret was born in 1907.[2] For undergraduate, she studied at the University of Colorado Boulder. While there, she joined the Chi Omega sorority, was the head of sports on the athletic board, joined the honor society Phi Beta Kappa, and reviewed multiple chapters of "Colorado Plant Life" for Francis Ramaley.[3][4][5][6][7] In 1925 she graduated cum laude and received her A.B. in biology.[8] Then in 1926 Cave received her A.M. also from University of Colorado Boulder.[9] She then moved to California to attend University of California, Berkeley and pursue her PhD.[9] While there, she joined the biological science honor society Phi sigma and later would become an officer and vice president of the honor society.[10][11] During her time there, she would be influenced by Priscilla Avery.[12] Under the direction of Ernest Brown Babcock, Cave earned her PhD in genetics in 1936 due to her efforts to apply genetics to distinguish plant taxonomy in Crepis foetida.[13]

Academic career and research

Cave continued to work at the University of California from 1936 to 1943 as a research associate in the botany department.[5][6] During this time she continued her embryological studies by examining the female gametophyte in Erythronium helenae and Erythronium tuolumnense and she started her 20-year collaboration with Lincoln Constance studying the chromosome numbers of Hydrophyllaceae (waterleaf family).[14][15] Besides her research endeavors, she served as an instructor of botany at the University of California College of Pharmacy in San Francisco.[16]

From 1944 to 1945 Cave moved to Washington D.C. to work for the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.[5][6] While there she translated studies on forest legislation from multiple South American companies.[17][18][19]

Cave returned to working as a research associate in the botany department of the University of California, Berkeley in 1945. During this time she worked in collaboration with South African phycologist Mary Pocock to pioneer techniques to count the number of chromosomes present in algae using Volvocaceae.[20] For this work she received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1952 to assist in traveling to South African.[21][22] She collaborated with Spencer Wharton Brown to discover that pollen tubes in Lilium are attracted to a "preferred zone" of ovules rather than another portion of the ovule.[23][24][25] Outside these collaborations she continued to champion the use of embryology in plant taxonomy using Liliaceae as her model system.[26][27][28] Besides her research she joined Society of Woman Geographers in 1957 and in 1959 she organized the Ninth International Botanical Congress in Montreal, Canada in 1959.[22][5][6] In 1966 she took a sabbatical to visit and collaborate at the University of Concepción in Chile.[5][6][22]

Controversies

Peony coenocyte: embryo or suspensor

In 1957 two Soviet scientists M.S. Yakovlev and M.D. Joffe published in the Indian journal Phytomorphology that the angiosperm Paeonies embryo formed large coenocyte cells during early development.[29] This was striking because closely related angiosperms were not known to form large coenocyte; however, its distantly related cousin the gymnosperms do.[30][31] This finding questioned the placement of peonies within angiosperms. While leading embryologist and founder of Phytomorphology Panchanan Maheshwari allowed the article to be published, Maheshwari had qualms regarding the veracity of the finding and in turn instructed his student Prem Murgai to replicate the work.[5][6] In 1959 Murgai concluded the Soviets were wrong.[32] Murgai concluded the large coenocyte cell did not form the embryo but rather the suspensor. Interested in this controversy, Cave recruited graduate students Howard Arnott and Stanton A. Cook to investigate this matter more thoroughly. Ultimately in 1961, this team's findings agreed with Yakovlev and Joffe's initial findings.[33] The coenocyte was the embryo, and this represented an instance of parallel evolution between gymnosperms and peonies. In 1963 while Maheshwari was visiting Berkeley, he attempted to sway Cave's opinion on this matter with his lab's slides using his large presence and big personality.[5][6] In response Cave called for a young graduate student to explain to Maheshwari his mistake in their interpretation.

Image tampering: fake or real

Upon completing her 1970 study of Californian Liliaceae chromosomes, Cave submitted her manuscript for review.[5][6] P. E. Brandham, a staff member from Kew Gardens in London, reviewed her manuscript and claimed the images Cave produce could not be real and that Cave must have drawn on them.[34] The attack on the integrity of her data infuriated Cave and she swiftly informed the reviewer that they were mistaken.[35]

Works
  • A Fourth New Species of Nicotiana from Peru (1935)[36]
  • Cytological and Genetical Investigations Involving Crepis foetida, C. Commutata, C. Eritreënsis, and C. Thomsonii (1936)[13]
  • A study of Intra- and Interspecific Relations of Crepis foetida (1938)[37]
  • Megasporogenesis and Embryo Sac Development in Calochortus (1941)[38]
  • Development of the female gametophyte in Erythronium helenae and Erythronium tuolumnense (1942)[14]
  • Development of the Macrogametophyte of Miersia Chilensis (1942)[39]
  • Alteration of Chromosome Number in Miersia chilensis (1943)[40]
  • Curare in the Amazon Basin (1944)[41]
  • Forest legislation in Honduras (1945)[17]
  • Forest legislation in Venezuela (1945)[18]
  • Forest legislation in Paraguay (1945)[19]
  • Sporogenesis and Embryo Sac Development of Hesperocallis and Leucocrinum in Relation to their Systematic Position (1948)[42]
  • Karyological Studies in the Volvocaceae (1951)[20]
  • Induced Dominant Lethality in Lilium (1953)[43]
  • Plant Genera, Their Nature and Definition (1953)[44]
  • The Detection and Nature of Dominant Lethals in Lilium. I. Effects of X Rays on the Heritable Component and Functional Ability of the Pollen Grain (1954)[23]
  • The Detection and Nature of Dominant Lethals in Lilium. II. Cytological Abnormalities in Ovules after Pollen Irradiation (1954)[24]
  • The Variable Chromosome Number in Astrephomene gubernaculifera (1956)[45]
  • The Detection and Nature of Dominant Lethals in Lilium. III. Rates of Early Embryogeny in Normal and Lethal Ovules (1957)[25]
  • Chromosome Numbers in the Hydrophyllaceae (1942,1944,1947,1950,1959)[15][46]
  • Ontogeny of the Inflorescence and the Flower in Drimys winteri Var. Chilensis (1959)[47]
  • Embryogeny in the California Peonies with Reference to Their Taxonomic Position (1961)[33]
  • Chromosome numbers in Crossosoma (1963)[48]
  • Cytological observations on some genera of the Agavoideae (1964)[49]
  • Embryology of Blandfordia nobilis Smith (Liliaceae), with Special Reference to Its Taxonomic Position (1964)[26]
  • The chromosomes of Scoliopus (Liliaceae) (1966)[27]
  • Chromosomes of the California Liliaceae (1970)[28]
  • Chromosome Numbers and Relationships in Annoniflorae (1971)[50]
  • Chromosome number in Muilla maritima (Torr.) S. Wats (1974)[51]
  • Geography of pollen and chromosomal heteromorphism in Leucocrinum montanum (Lilliaceae) (1975)[52]

Personal life

She married Roy Clinton Cave in 1928 in California. They lived together briefly in St. Louis, Missouri.[53] They moved back to California in 1935.[54] They moved to Washington D.C. from 1944 to 1945 so that both could work for Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.[5][6] Afterwards, they moved back to California. Outside of work she was interested in sewing, traveling, reading, and gardening.[5][6] She was survived by her sister's daughter Joan Litten.[6]

Legacy

Despite not having more space to work than a graduate student, as a research associate Cave was invested in teaching graduate students the plant photomicrography and embryology.[5][6] Some of her students included Howard Arnott, Sherwin Carlquist, Stanton A. Cook, Florence Signaigo Wagner, and Warren H. Wagner. In addition, her opinion and experiences on cytological squash techniques were requested during the formation of a Plant Microtechnique Manual.[55] Towards the end of her time at Berkeley she became the photographer for the botany department.[56] From 1952 to 1981 she took 372 photographs.

Outside of Berkeley she provided samples to help Rosalie Wunderlich of the University of Vienna resume her research program after World War II.[5][6] To help the plant cytological community, she secured funding from the National Science Foundation to create an annual compilation of all the plant species within known chromosome numbers.[57] She was the initial editor of "Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers" from 1956 to 1964 and then became associate editor from 1964 to 1974.[5][6][58]

Awards and achievements

References
  1. "New York State Census, 1905," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKM8-MMQ : 8 March 2021), Marion Stillwell in household of Joseph Stillwell, Rochester, Ward 19, E.D. 04, Monroe, New York; citing p. , line 28, various county clerk offices, New York; FHL microfilm 833,789.(registration required)
  2. "—— Marion E", United States census, 1910; Denver, Denver, Colorado; page 13A, line 27, enumeration district 104, Family History film 1,374,128, National Archives film number T624-115.
  3. Lewis, Eleanor F., ed. (May 1922). "Zeta—University of Colorado". Personals. The Eleusis of Chi Omega. 24 (2): 218. hdl:2027/nyp.33433075993133 – via Hathi Trust.
  4. Lewis, Eleanor F., ed. (September 1922). "Zeta—University of Colorado". Personals. The Eleusis of Chi Omega. 24 (3): 371. hdl:2027/nyp.33433075993133 – via Hathi Trust.
  5. Kaplan, Donald R.; Constance, Lincoln; Ornduff, Robert (1997). "Marion Stilwell Cave (1904–1995)". Obituary. Madroño. 44 (2): 211–213. JSTOR 41426270. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022 – via JSTOR.
  6. Krogh, David (ed.). "University of California: In Memoriam, 1996". California Digital Library. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  7. Ramaley, Francis (1927). "Preface". Colorado Plant Life. University of Colorado semicentennial series, 1877–1927, vol. II. Boulder, Colorado: University of Colorado. pp. vii. hdl:2027/mdp.39015074720312 – via Hathi Trust.
  8. Catalogue 1924–1925. Boulder, Colorado. June 1925. pp. 168, 289.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. Berkeley, University of California (1936). Register – University of California. University of California Press.
  10. "New Officers Elected By Biological Society". The Daily Californian. 1928-03-12. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  11. The Biologist. Vol. 8. May 1926. p. 29.
  12. Cave, Marion (1940). Priscilla Avery. Vol. 5. Madroño. pp. 196–197.
  13. Cave, Marion Stilwell (1936). Cytological and Genetical Investigations Involving Crepis Foetida: C. Commutata, C. Eritreënsis, and C. Thomsonii. University of California.
  14. Cave, Marion S. (1942). "Development of the Female Gametophyte in Erythronium Helenae and Erythronium Tuolumnense". Madroño. 6 (6): 177–181. ISSN 0024-9637. JSTOR 41422441.
  15. Cave, Marion Stilwell; Constance, Lincoln (1950). Chromosome Numbers in the Hydrophyllaceae. University of California Press.
  16. "Blue & Gold Apothecary". Pharmacon. San Francisco: University of California College of Pharmacy. 6: 11. 1937.
  17. Cave, Marion S. (1945). Forest legislation in Honduras. Washington D.C.: Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.
  18. Cave, Marion S. (1945). Forest legislation in Venezuela. Washington D.C.: Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.
  19. Cave, Marion S. (1945). Forest legislation in Paraguay. Washington D.C.: Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.
  20. Cave, Marion S.; Pocock, Mary Agard (1951). "Karyological Studies in the Volvocaceae". American Journal of Botany. 38 (10): 800–811. doi:10.2307/2438205. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2438205.
  21. "Marion S. Cave". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  22. "SWG: Oral Histories". www.iswg.org. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  23. Brown, Spencer W.; Cave, Marion S. (1954). "The Detection and Nature of Dominant Lethals in Lilium. I. Effects of X Rays on the Heritable Component and Functional Ability of the Pollen Grain". American Journal of Botany. 41 (6): 455–469. doi:10.2307/2438856. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2438856.
  24. Cave, Marion S.; Brown, Spencer W. (June 1954). "The Detection and Nature of Dominant Lethals in Lilium. Ii. Cytological Abnormalities in Ovules After Pollen Irradiation". American Journal of Botany. 41 (6): 469–483. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1954.tb14364.x.
  25. Cave, Marion S.; Brown, Spencer W. (1957). "The Detection and Nature of Dominant Lethals in Lilium. III. Rates of Early Embryogeny in Normal and Lethal Ovules". American Journal of Botany. 44 (1): 1–8. doi:10.2307/2438338. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2438338.
  26. Fulvio, Teresa Emil Di; Cave, Marion Stilwell (1964). Embryology of Blandfordia Nobilis Smith (Liliaceae), with Special Reference to Its Taxonomic Position. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.
  27. Cave, Marion S. (1966). "The Chromosomes of Scoliopus (Liliaceae)". Madroño. 18 (7): 211–213. ISSN 0024-9637. JSTOR 41423224.
  28. Cave, Marion S. (1970). Chromosomes of the California Liliaceae. University of California publications in botany. ISBN 9780520090316.
  29. Yakovlev, MS; Yoffe, MS (1957). "On some peculiar features in the embryogeny of Paeonia L". Phytomorphology.
  30. Maheshwari, P (1950). An introduction to the embryology of angiosperms. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  31. Pettitt, John M. (February 1966). "A new interpretation of the structure of the megaspore membrane in some gymnospermous ovules". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 59 (379): 253–263. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1966.tb00061.x.
  32. Murgai, Prem (1959). "The development of the embryo in Paeonia. – A reinvestigation". Phytomorphology (9): 275–277 – via JSTOR.
  33. Cave, Marion S.; Arnott, Howard J.; Cook, Stanton A. (May 1961). "Embryogeny in the California Peonies with Reference to Their Taxonomic Position". American Journal of Botany. 48 (5): 397–404. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1961.tb11657.x.
  34. Brandham, P. E. (1972). "Review of Chromosomes of the California Liliaceae". Kew Bulletin. 27 (2): 373. doi:10.2307/4109471. ISSN 0075-5974. JSTOR 4109471.
  35. Brandham, P. E. (1973). "Review of Chromosomes of the Californian Liliaceae". Kew Bulletin. 28 (3): 531. doi:10.2307/4108899. ISSN 0075-5974. JSTOR 4108899.
  36. Babcock, Ernest Brown; Papenfuss, George Frederik; Dufrenoy, Jean; Constance, Lincoln; Egerod, Lois Lillian Eubank; Cave, Marion Stilwell; Walters, Marta Sherman; Avery, Priscilla; Goodspeed, Thomas Harper (1935). A Fourth New Species of Nicotiana from Peru. University of California Press.
  37. Babcock, Ernest Brown; Cave, Marion S. (1938). A study of Intra- and Interspecific Relations of Crepis foetida. Vol. 1. Berlin.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  38. Cave, Marion S. (1941). "Megasporogenesis and Embryo Sac Development in Calochortus". American Journal of Botany. 28 (5): 390–394. doi:10.2307/2436815. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2436815.
  39. Cave, Marion S. (1942). "Development of the Macrogametophyte of Miersia Chilensis". Botanical Gazette. 104 (1): 185–187. doi:10.1086/335121. ISSN 0006-8071. JSTOR 2472014. S2CID 84130576.
  40. Cave, Marion S.; Bradley, Muriel V. (1943). "Alteration of Chromosome Number in Miersia chilensis". American Journal of Botany. 30 (2): 142–149. doi:10.2307/2437256. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2437256.
  41. Cave, Marion S. (1944). Curare in the Amazon Basin. Washington D.C.: Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Research Division, Social and Geographic Unit.
  42. Cave, Marion S. (1948). "Sporogenesis and Embryo Sac Development of Hesperocallis and Leucocrinum in Relation to Their Systematic Position". American Journal of Botany. 35 (6): 343–349. doi:10.2307/2437748. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2437748.
  43. Brown, Spencer W.; Cave, Marion S. (1953). "Induced Dominant Lethality in Lilium". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 39 (2): 97–102. Bibcode:1953PNAS...39...97B. doi:10.1073/pnas.39.2.97. ISSN 0027-8424. JSTOR 88807. PMC 1063735. PMID 16578430.
  44. Lawrence, George Hill Mathewson; Bailey, I. W.; Eames, Arthur J.; Rollins, Reed C.; Cave, Marion S.; Mason, Herbert L. (1953). Plant Genera, Their Nature and Definition. Vol. 14. New York: Chronica Botanica Company.
  45. Cave, Marion S.; Pocock, Mary Agard (1956). "The Variable Chromosome Number in Astrephomene gubernaculifera". American Journal of Botany. 43 (2): 122–134. doi:10.2307/2438820. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2438820.
  46. "AAD Plants-Chromosome Literature". www.sci.sdsu.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  47. Blyth, Amelie C.; Kuijt, Job; Cave, Marion Stilwell; Hiroe, Minosuke; Tucker, Shirley C.; Constance, Lincoln (1959). Ontogeny of the Inflorescence and the Flower in Drimys Winteri Var. Chilensis. University of California Press.
  48. Raven, Peter H.; Cave, Marion S. (1963). Chromosome Numbers in Crossoma.
  49. Cave, Marion S. (1964). "Cytological Observations on Some Genera of the Agavaceae". Madroño. 17 (5): 163–170. ISSN 0024-9637. JSTOR 41431647.
  50. Raven, Peter H.; Kyhos, Donald W.; Cave, Marion S. (1971). "Chromosome Numbers and Relationships in Annoniflorae". Taxon. 20 (4): 479–483. doi:10.2307/1218249. ISSN 0040-0262. JSTOR 1218249.
  51. Cave, M. S. (1974). "Chromosome number in Muilla maritima (Torr.) S. Wats". Madroño.
  52. Ornduff, Robert; Cave, Marion S. (1975). "Geography of Pollen and Chromosomal Heteromorphism in Leucocrinum Montanum (Liliaceae)". Madroño. 23 (2): 65–67. ISSN 0024-9637. JSTOR 41423987.
  53. "Marion Elizabeth Cave", United States census, 1930; St. Louis, Missouri; page 19A, line 47, enumeration district 60, Family History film 2,340,973, National Archives film number T626-1238.
  54. 1940; Oakland, Alameda, California; page 11A, line 11, enumeration district 1–153.
  55. Brooks, Reid Merrifield; Bradley, Muriel V.; Anderson, Thelda I. (1950). Plant microtechnique manual. Davis: University of California, Dept. of Pomology. pp. 79, 85.
  56. "University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley". Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  57. Cave, Marion S. (1958). "NOTES AND NEWS". Madroño. 14 (7): 248. ISSN 0024-9637. JSTOR 41422950.
  58. Goldblatt, Peter (2007). "The Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers: Past and Future". Taxon. 56 (4): 984–986. doi:10.2307/25065898. ISSN 0040-0262. JSTOR 25065898.
  59. "In memoriam: Florence Wagner, Research Scientist | U-M LSA University of Michigan Herbarium". lsa.umich.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  60. Wagner, Florence Signaigo (1954). "Contributions to the morphology of the Delesseriaceae". University of California Publications in Botany. 27: 279–346.
  61. Cruden, Robert William (2009). "A Synopsis of South American "Echeandia" (Anthericaceae)". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 96 (2): 251–267. doi:10.3417/2002129. ISSN 0026-6493. JSTOR 40389933. S2CID 86354406.
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