Harry Beevers, 80; UC Professor Studied Plant Metabolism

Harry Beevers, 80, a UC Santa Cruz biology professor who made breakthroughs in the understanding of the cellular structure of plants, died April 14 at his home in Carmel after a brief illness.

A native of Durham, England, Beevers earned degrees in botany and plant physiology from Durham University. After postdoctoral study at Oxford, he immigrated to the U.S. and taught at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., from 1950 until moving to UC Santa Cruz in 1969. He retired in 1990.

Beevers’ research focused on the metabolism of the germinating castor bean.

By studying how the bean converts oil in its seed into sugar, providing energy for the growing seedling, he discovered the glyoxysome, a small structure or “organelle” within the plant’s cells.

His discovery paved the way for other research into the metabolism of plants and animals.