Dorosinskiy Leonid Mironovich

Dorosinsky Leonid Mironovich

12/23/1907 (Odessa) – 05/10/1994 (Saint Petersburg, Pushkin)

Leonid Mironovich Dorosinsky was born in Odessa in 1907 into a family of workers. After graduating from the Faculty of Labor (1925-1928) and the Odessa Institute of Grain Crops (1928-1931), in 1932 he entered the graduate school of the All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Microbiology, where in 1936 he defended his PhD thesis on the topic: "Characterization of lactic acid bacteria strains from silage for fermentation of various carbohydrates and fermentation products in order to use them for fermentation during silage." At that time, these studies were groundbreaking, they aroused the wide interest of agricultural practitioners and quickly found application in feed production.

Already at the first steps of his work, L.M. Dorosinsky focused his research in a direction that significantly complemented the study of soil microbial communities proposed by S.P. Kostychev. The use of analytical methods related to the isolation of individual strains allowed L.M. Dorosinsky to start creating microbial preparations of stable and controlled composition. These approaches have also been used in the work with symbiotic nitrogen fixers – rhizobia. The first works of L.M. Dorosinsky and this practically significant group of microbes were devoted to the influence of bacteriophages on clover rhizobia, in particular, the interaction of phages and bacteria in nodules.

Shortly after defending his PhD thesis, L.M. Dorosinsky assumed the duties of head of the laboratory of bacterial fertilizers. In 1938, he was confirmed as head of the laboratory and enrolled in a special postgraduate program at the VASHNIL (an analogue of doctoral studies), and in 1941 he was appointed director of the institute.

In 1941, L.M. Dorosinsky was drafted into the army, participated in combat operations, was awarded two Orders of the Red Star, two Orders of the Patriotic War; medals "For the Defense of Leningrad", "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and "For Courage".

After demobilization in 1946, with the rank of Guard Major, L.M. Dorosinsky was again the director of the All–Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Microbiology, he was vigorously engaged in the restoration of the institute in the post-war period. From 1952 to 1972, L.M. Dorosinsky headed the laboratory of bacterial fertilizers (later the laboratory of biological nitrogen), and from 1972 until the last days of his life he worked in this laboratory as a scientific consultant.

L.M. Dorosinsky's scientific research focused on the symbiosis of nodule bacteria and legumes. In the framework of his doctoral dissertation "The relationship of nodule bacteria with legumes" (1967), he substantiated the key importance of rhizobia for plant nitrogen nutrition. It was shown that more than 78% of the total nitrogen of lupine and more than 68% of alfalfa nitrogen was provided by its symbiotic fixation, which was convincing evidence of the effectiveness of rhizobium preparations.

The theoretical significance of L.M. Dorosinsky's works is very significant, in which the issues of the systematics of nodule bacteria and their relationship with plants are comprehensively highlighted, on the basis of which new technologies for the preparation and use of legume inoculants were proposed. The author paid special attention to the role of the host plant in the formation and functioning of the legume-rhizobial symbiosis. The fundamental provisions on the legume plant as the main environmental factor for nodule bacteria, on the relationship between the host specificity of rhizobia and their virulence and effectiveness, remain relevant at the present time. Based on these provisions, the “basic principle of breeding nodule bacteria” was formulated, which is the need to select strains based on their complementarity to certain species and varieties of host plants, rather than on their adaptability to local soil and climatic conditions. Great attention to L.M. Dorosinsky devoted his attention to the study of such an important economically valuable feature of rhizobia as competitiveness, which was the subject of his last major theoretical article (1989).

L.M. Dorosinsky is one of the founders of genetic research in the study of legume-rhizobial symbiosis. In the PhD thesis of A.N.Kostogryz (Zaretskaya), conducted under the supervision of L.M. Dorosinsky (1972), it was shown that the effectiveness of symbiotic nitrogen fixation is determined by the genetic correspondence of Rhizobium strains and legume varieties.

L.M. Dorosinsky summarized the results of many years of research on rhizobia in his fundamental monograph "Nodule bacteria and Nitragine" (Leningrad: Kolos, 1970). This work has become a universal guide for microbiologists and agronomists on the use of rhizobium (nitragine) preparations to improve the nitrogen nutrition of legumes. L.M.Dorosinsky has published more than 150 scientific papers, he is the author of 7 inventions and patents.

Under the leadership of L.M. Dorosinsky, new strains of nodule bacteria for the main legumes were developed and patented. In particular, a Rhizobium strain for clover was obtained, isolated from wild clover and providing a noticeable increase in yield and improvement in the quality of the green mass of cultivated varieties. Similarly, effective strains of rhizobia were created for alfalfa, vetch, esparcet and other legumes, which became the basis for highly effective preparations of the nitragine group. An important result of L.M.'s scientific and organizational activities. Dorosinsky led to the creation of the All-Union Geographical Network of Experiments with Bacterial Fertilizers (later renamed the Geoset of Experiments with nitragine), in which work on the study of symbiotic nitrogen fixation was coordinated in several dozen scientific institutions located in all agro-climatic zones of the USSR. The results of this work made it possible to create a unique database on the effectiveness of microbial drugs, which is still used by manufacturers and consumers of these drugs.

L.M. Dorosinsky organically combined scientific activity with pedagogical work. He devoted a lot of time to the preparation of students, postgraduates and applicants. Under his leadership, more than 20 PhD and doctoral theses were defended in various fields of soil microbiology. He educated a whole galaxy of students, many of whom became well-known microbiologists. L.M. Dorosinsky actively participated in the work of a number of dissertation councils, scientific commissions and expert groups, influencing the formation of high standards of training for soil microbiologists. Being for many years the chairman of the Scientific and Methodological Commission of the All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Microbiology on Biological Nitrogen, he carried out active work on the preparation of the scientific shift. Attention and benevolence, personal modesty, respectful and careful attitude towards young people, combined with high demands and the ability to give an accurate and objective assessment of work, effectively helped graduate students and applicants who presented their results at the meeting of the Methodological Commission to navigate the complex scientific topics of the institute, find optimal solutions to many complex problems and fruitful areas of further research.

L.M. Dorosinsky lived a long, intense and rewarding life. His works have been widely recognized by the scientific community, and he has seen the continuation of many of his endeavors in the works of his students and followers. Until the last days of his life, Leonid Mironovich did not cease to be interested in the work of the institute, where he spent most of his life. The bright memory of a great scientist, an organizer of science, who is ready to generously share his knowledge and ideas, a wonderful man Leonid Mironovich Dorosinsky, will forever remain in the memory of all who were lucky enough to work alongside him.