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William Zev Hassid (1899–1974)
William
Zev
(1899-l
Hassid 9741
Professor Hassid was born in Jaffa, Palestine about 1899. When he was 4 years old his parents moved to Krementz in the Russian Ukraine; he lived there until the summer of 1914, when he was sent back to Palestine to attend the Agricultural High School at Petah-Tikva. The outbreak of World War I cut him off from his family and financial support. He was forced to earn his living by farm work while he attended school, and he often lacked adequate food and clothing. After finishing high school in the summer of 1918, Hassid enlisted in the British Army and served for 2 years with the Royal Fusiliers in a unit called the 1st Judeans, later known as the Jewish legion. He never got into active combat, but served mainly in supply depots and occasionally as guard of Turkish prisoners. Since Hassid was accustomed to a frugal standard of living during his school years, he saved most of his army pay and accumulated enough in 2 years for a one-way trip to California where he planned to study agronomy at Berkeley. However, because of his limited knowledge of English and a shortage of funds, he spent the first 2 years as an undergraduate at Fresno State Teacher’s College and the Southern Branch of the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1924 he returned to Berkeley; he obtained his AB in Chemistry in 1925, his M.S. in Plant Nutrition in 1930, and his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology in 1934. In 1935 he was appointed a Junior Chemist in the Department of Plant Nutrition; he became an Instructor in 1939, and rose t,o the rank of Professor of Plant Biochemistry in 1947. In 1959 he transferred to the Department of Biochemist,ry, and in 1965 he became emeritus, but continued to carry on research as a member of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Hassid’s major research interest throughout his career was the elucidation of the structure and mode of biosynthesis of sugars and polysaccharides, especially those found in higher plants. His Ph.D. thesis dealt with the isolation and structure of a galactan sulfate that is a major structural polysaccharide of the marine algae, IT-idea laminarioides. This was followed by a series of comparative studies of the structure of starch and glycogen from various sources, including the synthetic polysaccharide formed by the action of purified phosphorylase on glucose l-phosphate. In 1939 Hassid collaborated with S. Ruben and M. D. Kamen in the first application of radioactive carbon (“C) to biological research. When 14C became available he and his associates pioneered the development of photosynthetic methods of preparing uniformly labeled carbohydrates, vi
including glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, and starch. Beginning in 1943 he collaborated with M. Doudoroff, N. 0. Kaplan, and H. A. Barker in demonstrating the phosphorolysis and synthesis of sucrose and related disaccharides by an enzyme from Pseudomonas saccharophila. These studies also established the concept of glucosyl transfer reactions and provided indirect evidence for the existence of glucosyl-enzyme intermediate, later demonstrated by Abeles and his assoriates (1967). Following the discovery of uridine diphosphate glucose by Leloir and his associates, Hassid undertook a systematic investigation of the occurrence and role of nucleoside diphosphate sugars in higher plants. He and his associates isolated NDP derivatives of n-xylose, L-arabinose, n-galactose. n-galatturonic acid, n-mannuronic, and N-acetyl glucosamine and demonstrated their reactions in sugar interconversions and polysaccharide synthesis. He demonstrated the enzymatic synthesis of P-1,3-glucan (wit.h D. S. Feingold and E. F. Neufeld, 1958)) P-1,2-glucan (with R. A. Dedonder, 19571, lactose by mammary gland tissue (with W. H. Watkins, 196211,and by a soluble milk enzyme (with H. Babad, 19641, and cellulose (with A. D. Elbein and G. A. Barber, 1964). In recognition of his research accomplishments, Hassid received the Sugar Research Award (1945) of the National Academy of Sciences (jointly with M. Doudoroff and H. A. Barker), the Charles Reid Barnes Honorary Life Membership Award of the American Society of Plant Physiologists (1964)) and the C. S. Hudson Award of the American Chemical Society (1967). In 1972 he was honored as one of three outstanding senior American carbohydrate chemists. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as Chairman of the Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry (1949 1950), American Chemistry Society, and as a member of numerous editorial boards. Hassid was a warm, generous, and modest person who will be missed by his many friends in all walks of life. H. A. BARKER
vii
Zev
(1899-l
Hassid 9741
Professor Hassid was born in Jaffa, Palestine about 1899. When he was 4 years old his parents moved to Krementz in the Russian Ukraine; he lived there until the summer of 1914, when he was sent back to Palestine to attend the Agricultural High School at Petah-Tikva. The outbreak of World War I cut him off from his family and financial support. He was forced to earn his living by farm work while he attended school, and he often lacked adequate food and clothing. After finishing high school in the summer of 1918, Hassid enlisted in the British Army and served for 2 years with the Royal Fusiliers in a unit called the 1st Judeans, later known as the Jewish legion. He never got into active combat, but served mainly in supply depots and occasionally as guard of Turkish prisoners. Since Hassid was accustomed to a frugal standard of living during his school years, he saved most of his army pay and accumulated enough in 2 years for a one-way trip to California where he planned to study agronomy at Berkeley. However, because of his limited knowledge of English and a shortage of funds, he spent the first 2 years as an undergraduate at Fresno State Teacher’s College and the Southern Branch of the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1924 he returned to Berkeley; he obtained his AB in Chemistry in 1925, his M.S. in Plant Nutrition in 1930, and his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology in 1934. In 1935 he was appointed a Junior Chemist in the Department of Plant Nutrition; he became an Instructor in 1939, and rose t,o the rank of Professor of Plant Biochemistry in 1947. In 1959 he transferred to the Department of Biochemist,ry, and in 1965 he became emeritus, but continued to carry on research as a member of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Hassid’s major research interest throughout his career was the elucidation of the structure and mode of biosynthesis of sugars and polysaccharides, especially those found in higher plants. His Ph.D. thesis dealt with the isolation and structure of a galactan sulfate that is a major structural polysaccharide of the marine algae, IT-idea laminarioides. This was followed by a series of comparative studies of the structure of starch and glycogen from various sources, including the synthetic polysaccharide formed by the action of purified phosphorylase on glucose l-phosphate. In 1939 Hassid collaborated with S. Ruben and M. D. Kamen in the first application of radioactive carbon (“C) to biological research. When 14C became available he and his associates pioneered the development of photosynthetic methods of preparing uniformly labeled carbohydrates, vi
including glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, and starch. Beginning in 1943 he collaborated with M. Doudoroff, N. 0. Kaplan, and H. A. Barker in demonstrating the phosphorolysis and synthesis of sucrose and related disaccharides by an enzyme from Pseudomonas saccharophila. These studies also established the concept of glucosyl transfer reactions and provided indirect evidence for the existence of glucosyl-enzyme intermediate, later demonstrated by Abeles and his assoriates (1967). Following the discovery of uridine diphosphate glucose by Leloir and his associates, Hassid undertook a systematic investigation of the occurrence and role of nucleoside diphosphate sugars in higher plants. He and his associates isolated NDP derivatives of n-xylose, L-arabinose, n-galactose. n-galatturonic acid, n-mannuronic, and N-acetyl glucosamine and demonstrated their reactions in sugar interconversions and polysaccharide synthesis. He demonstrated the enzymatic synthesis of P-1,3-glucan (wit.h D. S. Feingold and E. F. Neufeld, 1958)) P-1,2-glucan (with R. A. Dedonder, 19571, lactose by mammary gland tissue (with W. H. Watkins, 196211,and by a soluble milk enzyme (with H. Babad, 19641, and cellulose (with A. D. Elbein and G. A. Barber, 1964). In recognition of his research accomplishments, Hassid received the Sugar Research Award (1945) of the National Academy of Sciences (jointly with M. Doudoroff and H. A. Barker), the Charles Reid Barnes Honorary Life Membership Award of the American Society of Plant Physiologists (1964)) and the C. S. Hudson Award of the American Chemical Society (1967). In 1972 he was honored as one of three outstanding senior American carbohydrate chemists. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as Chairman of the Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry (1949 1950), American Chemistry Society, and as a member of numerous editorial boards. Hassid was a warm, generous, and modest person who will be missed by his many friends in all walks of life. H. A. BARKER
vii