GrainGenes

Dr. Donald B. Bechtel

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 In addition, he is author of two theses, author or coauthor of 49 published abstracts and numerous unpublished ones, and has made 51 in presentations.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.