Dr. Donald B. Bechtel
retired on 3 January, 2005, after over 30 years of service as
a Research Chemist with the USDA-ARS-GMPRC, Grain Quality and
Structure Research Unit, in Manhattan, Kansas. He received his
B.S. degree in Biology and M.S. degree in Botany, both from Iowa
State University, and his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology from Kansas
State University in 1982. He established the microscopy facility
in 1974 at the GMPRC. Dr. Bechtel developed methodologies used
for studying cereals, bacteria and fungi. His pioneering research
on Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) provided basic information on the
formation of the biological pesticide containing parasporal crystal.
He constructed the first electron microscopy and reassembling
serial thin sections of Bt. Dr. Bechtel created numerous innovative
techniques for preparing mature dry cereals for light and electron
microscopy and is still the only person to successfully section
and publish micrographs of long grain rice central endosperm.
He showed how cereal storage proteins are packaged and processed
during grain development. He developed freeze-fracture techniques.
In 1987, Dr. Bechtel was on a sabbatical to study cereal development
in England. His research at Rothamsted Experimental station led
to the development of several cytochemical and immunocytochemical
techniques that identified a new developmental process in wheat
endosperm and localized in situ a legumin-like storage protein
within inclusions of wheat endosperm protein bodies. He also discovered
a new method of vacuole formation in wheat endosperm cells, developed
and applied novel methods to the study of wheat grain senescence
during grain drying.
Dr. Bechtel was assigned to an urgent high-priority project involving
an embargo on the importation of U.S. wheat into China, Brazil,
Mexico, and India because of the presence of TCK (dwarf bunt fungus)
spores in U.S. wheat shipments. That research showed no spores
in mill fractions. Dr. Bechtel has developed starch isolation
procedures and image analysis techniques that were incorporated
into a reference method for measuring starch granule size distributions.
Dr. Bechtel is author or coauthor of 80 peer-reviewed journal papers, including coauthor of a major review article, author or coauthor of 10 book chapters and editor of a book. In addition, he is author of two theses, author or coauthor of 49 published abstracts and numerous unpublished ones, and has made 51 in presentations.
Dr. Bechtel was an adjunct professor in the Division of Biology and a member of the Graduate Faculty at Kansas State University. He served two terms on the editorial board of the AACC as Associate Editor of Cereal Chemistry. He was the Technical Program Chair of the AACC/TIA Joint Meeting (2003-04), a member of the AACC Book Committee and Chairman of the AACC Book Committee for three terms (1986c91). He coauthored book chapters in AACC monographs on rice, rye and wheat, and served on the Whole Grains and Excellence in Teaching Committees. His research has gained national and international stature, and is a member of several professional and honor societies, and received several grants and USDA-ARS awards.