Citation | Distinguished for his many discoveries in protozoan ecology, physiology and evolution. He was first to demonstrate seasonal migrations by microaerobic protozoa in lakes, their integrated perception of gravity, blue light and oxygen tension, and their ability to respire nitrate - previously unknown in eukaryotes. He has shown that the hydrogenosomes of anaerobic protozoa evolved from mitochondria and that methane generating endosymbionts stimulate the growth of their protozoan hosts. He used molecular probes to provide the first description of the evolution of syntrophic corsortia inside anaerobic protozoa and he demonstrated that ciliate-algal consortia can become 'aerobic islands' in anoxic water. He produced the first conclusive evidence that free living protozoan species are ubiquitous, that their global species richness is modest, and that biodiversity at microbial level is fundamentally different in character from that of macroscopic animals and plants. |