Record

Authorised form of nameWalsby; Anthony Edward (1941 - 2024); microbiologist
Dates1941 - 2024
NationalityBritish
Place of birthBexley, Kent, England
Date of birth21 June 1941
Date of death14 April 2024
Occupationmicrobiologist
Research fieldMolecular biology
Ecology
Cyanobacteria
Algae
Microbiology
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election11/03/1993
Age at election51
PublishedWorksRCN 8271
OtherInfoAnthony Walsby was a microbiologist who uncovered the curious method by which many aquatic microorganisms control their buoyancy. He showed that photosynthesising bacteria form and collapse gas vesicles to maintain their position in the water or reach regions with more sunlight. Anthony also discovered the first saltwater microbe with square-shaped cells.

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue–green algae, are photosynthetic. Anthony showed that these, and many other single-celled aquatic organisms, use gas vesicles to provide their buoyancy. He described the unique protein membrane of the vesicles, now exploited as the target for ultrasonic treatment of troublesome algal blooms in bodies of water.

Anthony discovered the first Haloquadratum archeon in a coastal brine pool on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Named after him, Haloquadratum walsbyi proliferates in salt-rich water and, unusually, has cells shaped like flat, square boxes.
SourceFellows Directory, 'Professor Anthony Walsby FRS', accessed 18 October 2024. https://royalsociety.org/people/anthony-walsby-12476/
CodeNA4289
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
IM/004779Walsby, Anthony Edward1993
EC/1993/39Walsby, Anthony Edward: certificate of election to the Royal Society1992
AEWPapers of Anthony Edward Walsby FRS, microbiologistc.1950s-2000s
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