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Walter Gams

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Konrad Walter Gams
Born(1934-08-09)9 August 1934
Brooks, Alberta
Died9 April 2017(2017-04-09) (aged 82)
Resting placeBomarzo, Italy
CitizenshipAustrian
Alma materUniversity of Zurich (MSc)
University of Innsbruck
SpouseSophia Aaltine Luinge
ChildrenTwo daughters
AwardsMycologist Award of the Mycological Society of America (2005)
Anton de Bary medal of the Deutschen Phytomedizinischen Gesellschaft (2012)
Scientific career
FieldsMycology
InstitutionsWesterdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute
Author abbrev. (botany)W.Gams

Konrad Walter Gams (9 August 1934 – 9 April 2017) was an Austrian mycologist. He worked as a scientist for his entire career at the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute) in the Netherlands.[1] He served in the international authority on classification of fungi, the Special Committee on Fungi and Lichens (renamed Nomenclatural Committee for Fungi), from which he contributed to the development of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants.[2] Some species of fungi he identified became sources of pharmaceutical drugs such as cephalosporin C (antibiotic) from Sarocladium strictum and Acremonium chrysogenum,[3] and ciclosporin (immunosuppressant) from Tolypocladium inflatum.[4]

Biography

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Gams was born in Zurich, Switzerland, to Helmut Gams and Margarete Gams-Schima. His father, originally from Brno (now in Czech Republic), was a renowned botanist who was a professor at the University of Munich, Germany, and then at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.[5] He studied botany in his father's department for his bacherlor's degree. He went to the University of Zurich to study under his uncle Emil Schmid for his master's degree. He returned to Innsbruck and obtained a PhD in 1960. With a post-doctoral scholarship, he went to UK to work with Dennis Parkinson, a microbiologist at the University of Liverpool.[2]

In 1961, Gams was recruited as a research associate by Klaus Heinz Domsch at the research institute, Biologischen Bundesanstalt für Land-und Forstwirtschaft (Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry) in Kiel-Kitzeberg, Germany.[2] His works with Domsch on fungal diversity was documented in several books and research articles,[6][7][8] including two monumental monographs, Fungi in Agricultural Soils (1971, original in German in 1970[9]) and Compendium of Soil Fungi (in two volumes, first published in 1980).[10] Together they discovered novel fungal species such as Paraphaeosphaeria sporulosa[11] and Podila (Mortierella) epigama.[12] Gams left Biologischen Bundesanstalt to join the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures at Baarn (renamed as Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute and relocated at Utrecht) in the Netherlands. He worked there until his retirement in 1999.[13]

Since 1984,[2] Gams became a permanent member of the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (a part of the International Botanical Congress[14]) that maintains the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants. He served as the committee's secretary for several years.[13] He published over 300 publications, including six books, created one new order, 10 new families, 57 generic names, and 622 species epithets. Three genera and 39 species were named after him.[2]

Among Gams's discoveries of fungal species, Acremonium chrysogenum, Sarocladium strictum, and Tolypocladium inflatum become important in pharmceutical science and industry as they are sources of clinical drugs. Acremonium chrysogenum and Sarocladium strictum produced cephalosporin C, one of the most widely used antibiotics, and which in turn is the source several related cephalosporins.[3][15] Tolypocladium inflatum is the source of ciclosporin A,[4] which is used as immunosuppressant and is approved for use in atopic dermatitis in dogs and allergic dermatitis in cats.[16]

Personal life

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Gams never used hi first name and even shunned it as his initial.[1] Although he spent most of his lifetime in the Netherlands, he remained an Austrian citizen throughout life.[13] In 1972, he married Sophia Aaltine Luinge with whom he had two daughters, Hedi (Hedwig) and Hilde (Mechthilde).[17] He and Sophia were passionate musicians, playing and composing several classical and folk music at different occasions.[2]

Gams founded a charity programme called "Studienstiftung mykologische Systematik und Ökologie" in 1995 for educational funding of young mycologists, particularly from poor backgrounds.[2] The foundation is now administered by the Deutschsprachige Mykologische Gesellschaft (German Mycological Society).[13]

Awards and honours

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The standard author abbreviation W.Gams is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dr Walter Gams passed away". westerdijkinstitute.nl. 2017-05-10. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Seifert, Keith A.; Zare, Rasoul; Summerbell, Richard C. (2019-07-04). "In memoriam: Walter Gams (1934–2017)". Mycologia. 111 (4): 690–697. doi:10.1080/00275514.2019.1619058. ISSN 0027-5514. PMID 31194652.
  3. ^ a b Tian, Jin; Lai, Daowan; Zhou, Ligang (2017-05-01). "Secondary Metabolites from Acremonium Fungi: Diverse Structures and Bioactivities". Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry. 17 (7): 603–632.
  4. ^ a b von Wartburg, Albert; Traber, René (1988-01-01), Ellis, G. P.; West, G. B. (eds.), "1 Cyclosporins, Fungal Metabolites with Immunosuppressive Activities", Progress in Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 25, Elsevier, pp. 1–33, retrieved 2025-07-18
  5. ^ Pitschmann H (1977). "Nachruf auf em. o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. phil. Helmut Gams (1893-1976)" (PDF). Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlich Medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck (in German). 64: 207–222.
  6. ^ Gams, W.; Domsch, K. H. (1967-06-01). "Beiträge zur Anwendung der Bodenwaschtechnik für die Isolierung von Bodenpilzen". Archiv für Mikrobiologie. 58 (2): 134–144. doi:10.1007/BF00406674. ISSN 1432-072X.
  7. ^ Domsch, K. H.; Gams, W.; Weber, E. (1968). "Der Einfluß verschiedener Vorfrüchte auf das Bodenpilzspektrum in Weizenfeldern". Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde. 119 (2): 134–149. doi:10.1002/jpln.19681190206. ISSN 1522-2624.
  8. ^ Domsch, K. H.; Gams, W. (1969-04-01). "Variability and potential of a soil fungus population to decompose pectin, xylan and carboxymethyl-cellulose". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 1 (1): 29–36. doi:10.1016/0038-0717(69)90031-5. ISSN 0038-0717.
  9. ^ Klein, Deana T. (1974). "Fungi in Agricultural Soils. K. H. Domsch , W. Gams , P. S. Hudson". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 49 (1): 74–75. doi:10.1086/407955. ISSN 0033-5770.
  10. ^ Seifert, K. A. (2008). "Compendium of Soil Fungi - by K.H. Domsch, W. Gams & T.-H. Anderson,". European Journal of Soil Science. 59 (5): 1007–1007. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.2008.01052_1.x. ISSN 1365-2389.
  11. ^ Giraldo, A.; Crous, P. W. (2019-03-01). "Inside Plectosphaerellaceae". Studies in Mycology. 92: 227–286. doi:10.1016/j.simyco.2018.10.005. ISSN 0166-0616. PMC 6276054.
  12. ^ Vandepol, Natalie; Liber, Julian; Desirò, Alessandro; Na, Hyunsoo; Kennedy, Megan; Barry, Kerrie; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Miller, Andrew N.; et al. (2020). "Resolving the Mortierellaceae phylogeny through synthesis of multi-gene phylogenetics and phylogenomics". Fungal Diversity. 104 (1): 267–289. doi:10.1007/s13225-020-00455-5. ISSN 1560-2745. PMC 7751987.
  13. ^ a b c d Stadler, Marc; Schroers, Hans-Josef (2019-02-01). "Editorial to the special issue in honor of Walter Gams". Mycological Progress. 18 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1007/s11557-018-1457-7. ISSN 1861-8952.
  14. ^ "Nomenclature Committee for Fungi". International Mycological Association. 2018. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  15. ^ Liu, Ling; Chen, Zhen; Liu, Wuyi; Ke, Xiang; Tian, Xiwei; Chu, Ju (2022-10-01). "Cephalosporin C biosynthesis and fermentation in Acremonium chrysogenum". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 106 (19): 6413–6426. doi:10.1007/s00253-022-12181-w. ISSN 1432-0614.
  16. ^ Palmeiro, Brian S. (2013-01-01). "Cyclosporine in Veterinary Dermatology". Veterinary Clinics: Small Animal Practice. 43 (1): 153–171. doi:10.1016/j.cvsm.2012.09.007. ISSN 0195-5616. PMID 23182330.
  17. ^ "In remembrance: [Konrad] Walter Gams (1934–2017)". Mycotaxon. 132 (2): xi–xii. 2017. doi:10.5248/132-2.
  18. ^ International Plant Names Index.  W.Gams.
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