Fraser John Bergersen 1929–2011

Dr Fraser Bergersen AM FAA FRS was a microbiologist who revealed how leghaemoglobin controls oxygen delivery in legume root nodules, transforming understanding of biological nitrogen fixation and its role in world agriculture.
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Fraser Bergersen rose from humble beginnings in New Zealand to become a leading microbiologist who specialised in the physiology and biochemistry of legume nitrogen fixation. He and his family emigrated to Australia in 1954.

Virtually all of his career was spent in Canberra at CSIRO Plant Industry. In the 1970s, Bergersen and colleagues achieved worldwide prominence when they elucidated the role of leghaemoglobin in facilitating oxygen diffusion to the Bradyrhizobium bacteroids in soybean nodules and in the nitrogen fixation process itself. 

During the rest of his working life, Fraser Bergersen contributed greatly to understanding the role of oxygen, the mode of its delivery, and terminal oxidases in all forms of biological nitrogen fixation.

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Fraser John Bergersen 1929–2011 PDF ( 448 KB )

 

About this memoir

This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 24(1), 2013. It was written by John Brockwell, Janet I. Sprent and David A. Day.

Fellow

Fraser Bergersen

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Conversation with scientist

Dr Fraser Bergersen, plant scientist

Fraser grew up in Hamilton, New Zealand, in a family of inventive engineers, developing an early love for tinkering and science that led him from aspiring medical student to microbiologist. His pioneering work at CSIRO on nitrogen-fixing legumes advanced global understanding of plant-bacteria symbiosis, influencing agricultural practices and sustaining decades of collaborative research. Interviewed by David Salt in 2004.
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