Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Life Science Division technical records of Robert K. Mortimer, Undated

Description of Collection

Repository

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Archives and Records Office

1 Cyclotron Rd. MS: 69R0102
Berkeley, California 94720
USA
https://commons.lbl.gov/display/aro/Archives+and+Records
aro@lbl.gov

Papers created by

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Life Sciences Division

Size of collection

6.25 linear feet
5 records boxes

Short description of collection

These records document biophysicist and professor Robert K. Mortimer's research in the genetics of yeast and related organisms. Of interest in this collection are Mortimer's notebooks from the 1950s, and his materials documenting the Yeast Genetics Stock Center.

Language(s) of collection

English

Collection number:

ARO-5425

Historical Note

The laboratory was founded as the University of California Radiation Laboratory in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a University of California Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics. It is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory, operated by the University of California. The name changed to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1995.

Biophysicist Robert K. Mortimer (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1953) was assistant professor of genetics at Berkeley beginning in 1956, became full professor in 1966, chaired the division of medical physics from 1972 to 1978, and served as chair of the Department of Biophysics and Medical Physics from 1984 to 1987. He also was affiliated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he served for a year as acting director of the lab's Human Genome Project.

Mortimer came to Berkeley in the early 1950s to study the impact of radiation on the survival of cells. He created strains of yeast with multiple copies of each chromosome, and discovered that more chromosomes led paradoxically to greater X-ray sensitivity. This led to his studies of the cell processes that protect them from physical and chemical damages to their DNA. The RAD genes discovered in these studies are the foundation of most contemporary studies of how higher cells repair damage to their DNA.

By the mid-1970s, Mortimer had created a genetic map of a yeast (Saccharomyces) with multiple mutations marking all the chromosomes, which he used to research how x-rays cause cell death. Even with a workable genetic map, Saccharomyces would have failed as an experimental organism except for another of Mortimer's innovations. Unlike other fungi whose spores are easy to isolated and cultivate, the four spores from Saccharomyces’ spores are born in an ascus that seems to be armor plated. In 1959, Mortimer and his colleague Johnston discovered that one could use the digestive juice of a snail to break that armor and liberate the spores for genetic analysis, and it was then possible for one person to more easily analyze thousands of meioses.

This discovery led to the development of a gene conversion process in Saccharomyces, which allows the information on one chromosome to be copied into the homologous chromosome, replacing the information that was there. Mortimer and colleagues produced the wealth of data on gene conversion that eventually led to the methods that allow gene replacements to be done in many different organisms.

Yeast divide by budding, leading to populations of genetically identical cells, and in 1959 Mortimer and Johnston discovered that individual cells in a culture of yeast can have very different life spans, depending upon whether the cell is a mother cell or a bud. Mortimer’s work on yeast aging set the stage for the discovery of the first genes affecting aging, and whose function is conserved from yeast to metazoans.

Mortimer also created the free Saccharomyces stock center to house thousands of strains of yeast that he thought would be of interest to the scientific community. A researcher could request any strain, and pay only the shipping to send the strain. This generous service did much to create a culture of sharing which still characterizes the yeast genetic community to this day. In 2002 Mortimer received the George W. Beadle Award from the Genetics Society of America in recognition of his many contributions that created the community of approximately 10,000 yeast genetic researchers.

Following his official retirement from UC, Mortimer spent 10 years in affiliation with the University of Florence, where he researched the genetic properties of yeast strains used in wine production.

Scope and Contents of Collection

These records document LBL scientist and UC Berkeley professor Robert K. Mortimer's groundbreaking work with yeast.

These records document biophysicist and professor Robert K. Mortimer's research in the genetics of yeast and related organisms. Using yeast cells, Mortimer studied the impact of radiation on the survival of cells and discovered that an increase in chromosomes in a cell led paradoxically to greater x-ray sensitivity. This discovery led to his famous studies of the many processes that all cells have to protect them from various physical and chemical damages to their DNA. Indeed, the so called RAD genes that were discovered in these studies are the foundation of most contemporary studies of how higher cells repair damage to their DNA. Mortimer created the saccharomyces stock center, which housed the many thousands of strains of yeast that his group created and made these strains available for genetic research. Of interest in this collection are Mortimer's notebooks from the 1950s, and his materials documenting the Yeast Genetics Stock Center.

Restrictions on Use and Access

This collection requires permission for access. Please contact the repository for more information, via email at aro@lbl.gov.

Selected Search Terms

These papers have been indexed in the International Catalog of Sources for History of Physics and Allied Sciences (ICOS) using the following terms. Those seeking related materials should search under these terms.

Persons

Mortimer, Robert K.

Institutions

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Life Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley Radiation Laboratory

Subject terms

Biophysics
Genetics.
Yeast

Administrative Information

Title

Finding Aid to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Life Science Division technical records of Robert K. Mortimer, 1950-1999

Publisher

American Institute of Physics Niels Bohr Library & Archives

One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740
USA
nbl@aip.org

2012

Encoding Information

Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Melanie J. Mueller in 2012. Any revisions made to this finding aid occurred as part of the editing and encoding process.

Series I: Technical records of Robert K. Mortimer

Box 1

Folder 1

Yeast Project 5-1 Logbook, undated

Folder 2

Yeast Project 5-2 Logbook, undated

Folder 3

Yeast Project 5-3 Logbook, undated

Folder 4

Research #1 Logbook, undated

Folder 5

Logbook #4 Yeast Research, undated

Folder 6

Research #5 Logbook, undated

Folder 7

Research #6 [Logbook], undated

Folder 8

Research #7 Gamma-Ray Pinhole Camera, undated

Folder 9

Logbook #9 Yeast Radiobiology, undated

Folder 10

R.K. Mortimer Research #15 Logbook, 1956

Folder 11

Research #16 [Logbook], undated

Folder 12

Research #18 Logbook, undated

Folder 13

Logbook #21, undated

Folder 14

Mortimer Dissertation: Cytological and Environmental Factors Related to the Effects of Radiations on Yeast Cells, undated

Folder 15

Correspondence, 1967-1968

Folder 16

Lindegren [Correspondence], 1967

Folder 17

Stock Center Research - Survival of Strains from Milk-Replica Storage - J. Bassell, 1973

Folder 18

Yeast Stock Center Protocol for Stock Storage Technique, 1975

Folder 19

Procedure for Preservation of Yeast Cultures - Procedure for Reviving Strains - SC and SM, undated

Folder 20

Stock Center, 1976-1977

Folder 21

DOE 189, 1977

Folder 22

DOE 189, 1978

Folder 23

DOE 189 (1978) 3669-18, 4419-01, 1978

Folder 24

SNC, undated

Folder 25

189 C.V., undated

Box 2

Folder 1

Request for Granting to NSF for YGSC, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982

Folder 2

YGSC (1981-) Fermentation - Petite, 1981-

Folder 3

YGSC (1981-) Mapping (Sample) - Diploids, 1981-

Folder 4

YGSC (1981-) Nutritional Testers Adc-His, 1981-

Folder 5

YGSC (1981-) Nutritional Testers IW-URA, 1981-

Folder 6

YGSC (1981-) Suppressible Alleles - Sterile Yeast Mutants, 1981-

Folder 7

YGSC (1981-) Temp Sensitive Lethals Prot. Synth - rNA Synth, 1981-

Box 3

Folder 1

YGSC (1981-) Temp Sensitive Lethals (undefined) Factor, 1981-

Folder 2

YGSC (1981-) Wild Type - Mapping (Multiply), 1981-

Folder 3

Isabel, Francois Correspondence, 1980s

Folder 4

Correspondence with John Wood, Lily Research Laboratories / MBS, 1983

Folder 5

Final Completion Report to SPO for YGSC, 1981-1984, 1979-1981

Folder 6

YGSC Grant Proposal to NSF and Letters of Review - Grant, 1984

Folder 7

Renewal of Grant YGSC, 1984

Folder 8

Correspondence Regarding ATCC and Stock Centers, 1984

Folder 9

Grant Proposal for Renewal to NSH OF, 1984-1987

Folder 10

Progress Report YGSC, 1985-1986

Folder 11

YGSC NSF Propsal, 1987

Folder 12

YGSC NIH Proposal 1987, Award Letter, 1987

Folder 13

Lists of Users of YGSC 1984, 1985, 1987; Letter to Louise Ramm, NIH February 16, 1988, 1984-1988

Folder 14

Becky C. and J.J. [Yeast Genetic Stock Center Materials], 1986

Folder 15

Miscellaneous Correspondence YGSC, 1988-

Folder 16

Progress Report (July) NIH and Grant Award for Second Year (September), 1988

Folder 17

NIH Progress Report (July) and Grant Award for Third Year, 1989

Folder 18

NIH Renewal Continuation (1990-1991) and Award Letter, undated

Folder 19

Yeast Genetic Stock Center ASM Meeting Dallas, May 1991

Folder 20

Culture Collections - Dallas - Meeting, May 1991

Folder 21

Tables Map, May 1991

Folder 22

NIH Awards for Five Years, July 1991

Folder 23

RKM - Basel, Switzerland - Correspondence with Lab, etc., July-November 1991

Folder 24

Animal Resources Bulletin Request for Information and Our Reply - Application to US Fed of Culture Collect (June) - Publication to Guide to Grants and Dollars, 1991

Folder 25

Award Letters, NIH Grant Proposal 1991, NTCC 1993 Directory Federal Lab 1993 Letter Making Alex Nichols PI, 1991-1993

Folder 26

YGSC UC Berkeley Correspondence, 1991

Folder 27

Correspondence and Support Items for 1994 NIH YGSC Renewal, 1994

Folder 28

Progress Report Award Letter, 1994

Folder 29

YGSC NIH 1994 Report Final - Awarded 1995 for 1996, July 21, 1995

Folder 30

1994 Progress Report Tables, 1994

Folder 31

Support for 1995 YGSC Progress Report, 1995

Folder 32

Directories YGSC, 1997

Folder 33

[Stock Center Data?], undated

Box 4

Folder 1

[Stock Center Data?], undated

Folder 2

[Index Cards - Stock Center?], undated

Folder 3

B. Kirsop Correspondence for YGSC Catalogue, etc., 1987

Folder 4

Stock Center Catalogue, 1975

Folder 5

Genetic Map for Stock Center Catalogue, 1987

Folder 6

Stock Center Catalogue 6th Edition, October 1987

Folder 7

Stock Center Catalogue 6th Edition, October 1987

Folder 8

Stock Center Catalogue 7th Edition, 1991

Folder 9

Stock Center Catalogue 8th Edition, 1995

Folder 10

Stock Center Catalogue 8th Edition, 1995

Folder 11

Time Sheets Becky, 1986-1992

Folder 12

ACACIA, undated

Folder 13

[Wine] 1993, undated

Folder 14

[Wine] 1994, undated

Folder 15

Florence [Correspondence], 1994-1995

Folder 16

Correspondence with Bacardi and Jim Brand, 1995

Folder 17

[Mortimer-Contopoulou Correspondence], 1996

Folder 18

South Africa Strains, 1996-1997

Folder 19

STAR Project Communications with Alexis - Correspondence Italy, 1996

Folder 20

Entian Florence - Arrangements for Transferring Stock, 1997

Folder 21

Bernard Prior - Glycerol, undated

Folder 22

Vintage Data Sheet, 1996

Folder 23

LALL X XPB3, 1998

Folder 24

Fatty Acids, undated

Folder 25

Stuck Fermentation, 1998

Folder 26

Fermentations Prove Di Fermentazioni, undated

Folder 27

Protocols / Perugia - Strains / S.P. Wine Yeast (spore to spore) / Auxtrophic Marker Crosses / Wine Yeast, undated

Folder 28

Amber Suppressor, undated

Folder 29

Far Niente / Grape Berries / Flavonoids - Antociani, undated

Folder 30

PDM Brushing, undated

Folder 31

PDM - Brushing Program, undated

Box 5

Folder 1

Imcroci Fiorentini XMP 1014, undated

Folder 2

Mormoniella Logbook, undated

Folder 3

Logbook, undated

Folder 4

ar4 tr5 ad6 Fine Structure Mapping, undated

Folder 5

[Firenze Logbook], 1992-1993

Folder 6

Firenze [Logbook], 1996-1997

Folder 7

[Firenze Logbook], 1998

Folder 8

Firenze [Logbook], 1999

Folder 9

Ba Strains, undated

Folder 10

[Wine Notebook], undated

Folder 11

1995 Florence [Logbook], 1995

Folder 12

Viewgraphs, undated

Folder 13

Proposal: Studies on Stuck Fermentations, 1998-1999

Folder 14

Office of Technology Licensing, undated

Folder 15

Tom Stickel Emails re: Venture Capital, undated

Folder 16

Genome Reviews, undated

Folder 17

Office of Technology Transfer: Proprietary Information, undated

Folder 18

Correspondence with Gordon Burns, undated

Folder 19

ATCC, undated

Folder 20

AVF, undated

Folder 21

Patents, undated