Henry Tryon—the true discoverer of the potato brown rot pathogen, Ralstonia solanacearum
Malcolm J. Ryley
A *
A
Abstract
Within a few years of the establishment of the convict settlement at Sydney Cove, the potato became one of the staple crops of the population due to its relatively high yield and the prior experience of the convicts and free settlers with growing the crop. In 1894, Henry Tryon described a new disease in southern Queensland that caused rapid wilting of plants, a ring of slightly translucent tissue just below the surface of affected tubers, oozing of a thick, white fluid from the ‘eyes’, and ultimately rotting of the tubers. It soon became known as ‘Tryon’s disease’. He found that a microbe (bacterium) was always associated with affected tubers and stems, provided a very brief description of the bacterial cells and named the microbe Bacillus vascularum solani. A few years later the American scientist Erwin Frink Smith wrote a paper on a new disease (brown rot) of solanaceous plants including the potato and tomato, in which he called the causal agent Pseudomonas solanacearum, now known as Ralstonia solanacearum. Smith dismissed Tryon’s prior claim to the discovery of the disease with some of his comments being personal and scathing. Tryon had the last word, however, cloaking his response in restrained and somewhat convoluted tones.
Keywords: Bacillus solanacearum, bacterial wilt, brown rot, Erwin Frink Smith, Henry Tryon, potato, Ralstonia solanacearum, Tryon’s disease.
References
Anonymous (1807) Abstract of acres in grain, pulse, &c., etc, August 1807, Historical Records of New South Wales, 6, 279.
| Google Scholar |
Anonymous (2022a) List of Livestock, Provisions, Plants and Seeds, First Fleet Fellowship, Victoria, Inc., https://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/library/first-fleetlist-livestock-provisions-plants-seeds/, viewed March 2022.
Anonymous (2022b) Australian vegetable production statistics, Ausveg, https://ausveg.com.au/resources/economics-statistics/australian-vegetable-production-statistics/
Anonymous (2023) Erwin Frink Smith Papers, USDA National Agricultural Library, Washington, https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/special-collections/erwin-frink-smith-papers
Atkinson, J. (1826) An Account of Agriculture and Grazing in New South Wales, and of Some of Its Most Useful Natural Productions, With Other Information, Important to Those Who Are About to Emigrate to That Country, the Result of Several Years’ Residence and Practical Experience, 1st edn, J. Cross, London.
Caley, G. (1897) A short account relative to the proceedings in New South Wales, from 1800 to 1803, with hints and critical remarks by Gorge Caley, addressed to Sir Joseph Banks (Banks Papers), Historical Records of New South Wales, 5, 290-300.
| Google Scholar |
Campbell, C. L. (1983) Erwin Frink Smith—pioneer plant pathologist, Annual Review of Phytopathology, 21(1), 21-27.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Cobb, N. A. (1897) Diseases of the potato—wet rot, letters on the diseases of plants, The Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 8, 222-223.
| Google Scholar |
Collins, D. (1798) An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales: With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners &c of the Native Inhabitants of That Country, T. Cadell Jun. & W. Davies, London, England, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00010.html, viewed March 2021.
García, R. O., Kerns, J. P., and Thiessen, L. (2019) Ralstonia solanacearum species complex: a quick diagnostic guide, Plant Health Progress, 20, 7-13.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Helms, R. (1895) Report on an investigation into the potato diseases prevalent in the Clarence River district, The Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 6, 316-333.
| Google Scholar |
Hobart, R. (1897) Lord Hobart to Governor King (2), 24 February 1803, Historical Records of New South Wales, 5, 37-44.
| Google Scholar |
Hunter, J. (1895) Account of livestock and ground under crop in NSW, 19 August 1797, Historical Records of New South Wales, 3, 287.
| Google Scholar |
Jones, L. R. (1939) Biographical memoir of Erwin Frink Smith, Biographical Memoirs 21 – First Memoir, National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/smith-erwin.pdf, viewed July 2022.
King, P. G. (1897) Governor King to Lord Hobart, 1 March 1804, Historical Records of New South Wales, 5, 317-325.
| Google Scholar |
Marcone, C., Guerra, L. J., and Uyemoto, J. K. (2014) Phytoplasmal diseases of peach and associated phytoplasma taxa, Journal of Plant Pathology, 96, 15-28.
| Google Scholar |
Ross, R. (1892) Remarks and observations on Norfolk Island by Major Ross, December 1790, Historical Records of New South Wales, 1(2), 416-420.
| Google Scholar |
Schimper, A. F. W. (1895) Tryon (Brisbane Australien)—virulent potato disease [title translated from German], Zeitschrift für Pflanzenkranheiten, 5, 234.
| Google Scholar |
Simmonds, J. H. (1986) A short history of the early years of plant pathology in Queensland, https://www.appsnet.org/history/Early%20years%20in%20QLD.pdf, viewed February 2021.
Tryon, H. (1894a) ‘New Potato Disease’, in Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1893-94 – Report of the Under Secretary for Agriculture, Edmund Gregory Government Printer, Brisbane, pp. 2–4, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3100843&view=1up&seq=700&q1=potato, viewed February 2021.
Tryon, H. (1899) Potato disease, Queensland Agricultural Journal, 5, 57-63.
| Google Scholar |
