M Elisabeth Sharpe (1916 – 1998) was a British microbiologist. She is best known for her contributions to the field of dairy microbiology and the development of the MRS agar for the isolation and cultivation of Lactobacillus species.
Research and career
Sharpe attended University College London where she gained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1937. Between 1942 and 1946, Sharpe worked for The Boots Company, where she was involved in research into the pharmacological properties of notatin, before returning to the National Institute for Research in Dairying in Shinfield where remained until her retirement from research in 1978. She received a PhD from the University of Reading in 1951 after completing research on group D streptococci isolated from cheese and the faeces of healthy and sick infants.
Sharpe's later research focussed on dairy microbiology, with her research involving developing new techniques for the identification and classification of gram-positive bacteria, including species belonging to the Lactobacilli genus. In 1960, Sharpe was involved in the invention of the MRS agar along with de Mann and Rogosa; the agar, an adapted form of the Lactobacillus selective Rogosa agar that allows for better growth of fastidious strains, is still used today.
Sharpe was also a contributor and editor of the first edition of Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. In 1975, Sharpe become the joint editor of the Journal of Dairy Research, a role in which she remained until her retirement in 1988. In 2008, the genus Sharpea was named in honour of Sharpe's contributions to the development of evolutionary microbiology.
In 1973, Sharpe was awarded a DSc degree from the University of London. After fourteen years as a joint editor of the Journal of Dairy Research, Sharpe retired in 1988 before her death in 1999.
Selected publications
References