Birgit Nordbring-Hertz

Birgit Ann-Marie Margareta Nordbring-Hertz, (16 May 1923 – 16 March 2020 in Lund, Sweden) was a Swedish scientist at Lund University known for her work on the interactions between fungi and nematodes.

Birgit Nordbring-Hertz
Born	Birgit Ann-Marie Nordbring 1923[1]
Died	March 16, 2020(2020-03-16) (aged 96) [2]
Alma mater	Lund University
Scientific career
Thesis	Nematode-trapping organs in the fungus arthrobotrys oligospora : formation, structure and function (1974)

Education

Nordbring-Hertz graduated with a medical licentiate degree with a thesis on the opportunistic human pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans, 1956 at Lund University,^[3] and received a doctorate in microbiology in 1974 at the same university, working on nematode-trapping fungi.^[4] After her doctorate she took over responsibility for the department of microbial ecology, a position she held from 1975 until 1989.^[3] In 1987, she was promoted to professor at Lund University,^[5][6] and in 1989 she transitioned to an emeritus position.^[3] She was the first female professor at the natural science faculty at Lund University.^[5]

Research

Nordbring-Hertz's research mainly dealt with a type of microfungi, so-called nematophagous fungi, that infect and digest nematodes. She concentrated on the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora.^[7][8] Nordbring-Hertz used scanning electron microscopy to study the trapping organs of A. oligospora.^[9] Her early research was concentrated on how trapping organs were induced,^[10] apart from nematode touching the hyphae also chemically by small peptides will induce trap formation. Her work was later focussed on specific recognition mechanisms, e.g. by lectins (carbohydrate-binding glycoproteins) on the trap surface that recognise specific carbohydrates on the nematode surface and start the infection process.^[11][12] Her research also examined volatile exudates from nematodes,^[13] the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae,^[14] and quantifying the presence of the fungus in soil ecosystems.^[15]

Selected publications

• Nordbring-Hertz, Birgit (1972). "Scanning Electron Microscopy of the Nematode-trapping Organs in Arthrobotrys oligospora". Physiologia Plantarum. 26 (2): 279–284. Bibcode:1972PPlan..26..279N. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3054.1972.tb03581.x. ISSN 1399-3054.
• Nordbring-Hertz, Birgit (1977). "Nematode-Induced Morphogenesis in the Predacious Fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora". Nematologica. 23 (4): 443–451. doi:10.1163/187529277X00372.
• Nordbring-Hertz, Birgit; Mattiasson, Bo (October 1979). "Action of a nematode-trapping fungus shows lectin-mediated host–microorganism interaction". Nature. 281 (5731): 477–479. Bibcode:1979Natur.281..477N. doi:10.1038/281477a0. S2CID 4339747.
• Nordbring-Hertz, Birgit (August 2004). "Morphogenesis in the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora - an extensive plasticity of infection structures". Mycologist. 18 (3): 125–133. doi:10.1017/S0269915X04003052. ISSN 1474-0605.
• Nordbring-Hertz, Birgit; Jansson, Hans-Börje; Tunlid, Anders (2011). "Nematophagous Fungi". Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley & Sons. doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0000374.pub3. ISBN 9780470016176.

Personal life

Nordbring-Hertz married in 1953 to a professor in electrical measurement technology, Hellmuth Hertz,^[16] and they had two sons, Thomas and Hans Hertz.^[17]