Martinus W. Beijerinck

Martinus W. Beijerinck (born March 16, 1851, Amsterdam, Netherlands—died January 1, 1931, Gorssel) Dutch microbiologist and botanist who founded the discipline of virology with his discovery of viruses. Beijerinck was the first to recognize that viruses are reproducing entities that are different from other organisms. He also discovered new types of bacteria from soil and described biological nitrogen fixation (the conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonium, a form usable by plants). Beijerinck embraced dispute and at times showed little respect for the work of others, on one occasion turning down a visit to the laboratory of German bacteriologist Robert Koch, thinking he had little to learn from Koch. Perhaps for these reasons, as well as his distaste for medical bacteriology and his focus on soil and plant microorganisms, his work was not as widely celebrated as that of Koch and French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur.

Beijerinck’s family was extremely poor, and he received his early education at home from his father. He began attending school at age 12, and, though he felt inferior and lacked self-confidence, he later reached the top of his class through hard work and his capacity to learn and understand. It was during this period that he developed a deep interest in plants. Beijerinck next studied at Delft Polytechnical School, where he was admitted thanks to the support of an uncle. Chemistry became his main subject of study, and he carried out a number of experiments with Jacobus Henricus van ’t Hoff, who later became Beijerinck’s adviser (and who in 1901 was the first winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry). In 1872, following his graduation from Delft, Beijerinck became a student at the University of Leiden. After passing his candidate examination magna cum laude in 1873, he proceeded to hold a variety of teaching posts. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Leiden in 1877.

Beijerinck’s teaching methods were disliked by most of his students, and research was always his major interest. In 1885 he left academic life to become a microbiologist at the Netherlands Yeast and Alcohol Manufactory in Delft, where he could devote his entire time to research. Even though the job paid exceptionally well, Beijerinck quickly regretted having taken it, partly because it placed him in Delft, then a factory town in decline and distant from his family, and partly because he did not get along well with his colleagues. He was prone to bouts of depression and plagued by a sense of gloom. Although his self-esteem remained low, his scientific reputation continued to expand, and in 1895 the Dutch government created a special position for him at the Delft Polytechnical School. He remained there until his retirement in 1921.

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Early in his career, Beijerinck studied plant galls, swellings of plant tissue now known to be caused by the invasion of various infectious agents. His investigations increasingly focused on fermentation, a process brought about by the growth of yeast and other microorganisms in an anaerobic environment (one lacking air). In 1888 he isolated the bacterium Bacillus radicicola (later classified as a type of Rhizobium), which lives in the root nodules of leguminous plants. He later made other important advances in plant and soil science through his studies of Azotobacter (a group of soil microorganisms), denitrifying bacteria (which convert soil nitrates to free atmospheric nitrogen), nitrogen fixation, and tobacco mosaic virus. He used the term filterable virus to describe the ability of the latter agent to pass through a fine-pored filter. He described the virus as contagium vivum fluidum, thinking it was a fluid rather than a particulate entity. Beijerinck also developed the principles of enrichment culture, which allowed a better understanding of the role of microorganisms in natural processes. He received international recognition for this discovery.

Beijerinck was awarded the Leeuwenhoek Medal by the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences in 1905.