Joseph Smartt

Joseph ("Joe") Smartt (9 September 1931 – 7 June 2013) was a British geneticist with major contributions to the knowledge of crop evolution, especially of grain legumes.

Education and early life

Born in West Ham, East London, Smartt graduated from Durham University in 1952 with a botany degree. He was a member of Hatfield College during his undergraduate studies. He then studied at Cambridge University (Christ's College) for a diploma in agricultural science. Afterwards, he went to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), where he bred groundnuts until 1961. He completed his PhD in the Department of Genetics at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1965; his thesis was a study on cross compatibility between the cultivated groundnut, Arachis hypogaea, and wild species.

Career

Smartt joined Southampton University in 1967 as a lecturer in the Department of Botany. He was promoted to Reader in Biology in 1990. Southampton University awarded him a Doctor of Science (DSc) in 1989 for his work on the genetics and evolution of crop plants.

Smartt authored two books on grain legumes, edited a major volume on groundnuts, and was invited to co-edit a second edition of the important Evolution of Crop Plants with Professor Norman Simmonds. He also had a long term interest in the genetics of goldfish and published two books on the subject as well as acting as scientific adviser to the Goldfish Society of Great Britain.

Selected publications

On fish

Smartt, J. (2008). Goldfish Varieties and Genetics: Handbook for Breeders. John Wiley & Sons.

Smartt, J. (2007). A possible genetic basis for species replacement: preliminary results of interspecific hybridisation between native crucian carp Carassius carassius (L.) and introduced goldfish Carassius auratus (L.). Aquatic Invasions 2(1):59–62.

Smartt, J. & Bundell, J. H. (1996). Goldfish breeding and genetics. TFH.

On the evolution of crop plants and grain legumes

Books

Nwokolo, E. & Smartt, J. (Eds.). (1996). Food and feed from legumes and oilseeds. Chapman & Hall, London.

Simmonds, N. W. & Smartt, J. (1999). Principles of crop improvement, 2nd edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford.

Smartt, J. & Simmonds, N. W. (1995). Evolution of crop plants, 2nd edn. Longman Scientific & Technical.

Smartt, J. (1994). The groundnut crop: a scientific basis for improvement. Chapman & Hall Ltd.

Smartt, J. (1990). Grain legumes: evolution and genetic resources. Cambridge University Press.

Smartt, J. (1976). Tropical pulses. Longman Group Limited.

Smartt, J. (1965), Cross-compatibility relationships between the cultivated peanut Arachis hypogaea L. and other species of the genus Arachis. PhD thesis, North Carolina State University.

Scientific articles

Erskine, W., Smartt, J. & Muehlbauer, F. J. (1994). Mimicry of lentil and the domestication of common vetch and grass pea. Economic Botany 48(3):326–332.

Harder, D. K. & Smartt, J. (1992). Further evidence on the origin of the cultivated winged bean, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.(Fabaceae): Chromosome numbers and the presence of a host-specific fungus. Economic Botany 46(2):187–191.

Smartt, J. (1986). Evolution of grain legumes. VI. The future—the exploitation of evolutionary knowledge. Experimental Agriculture 22:39–58.

Smartt, J. (1985d). Evolution of grain legumes. V. The oilseeds. Experimental Agriculture 21:305–319.

Smartt, J. (1985c). Evolution of grain legumes. IV. Pulses in the genus Phaseolus. Experimental Agriculture 21:193–207.

Smartt, J. (1985b). Evolution of grain legumes. III. Pulses in the genus Vigna. Experimental Agriculture 21:87–100.

Smartt, J. (1985a). Evolution of grain legumes. II. Old and New World pulses of lesser economic importance. Experimental Agriculture 21:1–18.

Smartt, J. (1984). Evolution of grain legumes I. Mediterranean pulses. Experimental Agriculture 20:275–296.

Smartt, J. (1980). Some observations on the origin and evolution of the winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus). Euphytica 29(1):121–123.