Antonio Cardoso Fontes, Brazilian microbiologist (Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro State 1879 – Rio de Janeiro 27 March 1943)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Authored 87 papers

Discovered ultramicroscopic forms of tubercle bacillus (1910)  

Demonstrated that Koch bacillus present 2 living forms with distinct properties and distinct functions (1910-1)

Showed the existence of an ultramicroscopic stage in bacterial life cycle

Sobre o cyclo vital das bacterias. Contribuição ao estudo da forma granular. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 18(1):163, 1925.  

His work about filtrability of tubercle agent (1909-11) deserved the interest of the foreign scientific circles and gave him great renown as world authority in Koch bacillus biology 

Determined the composition and the function of Koch bacillus granulations, and established it as reproductive units and living infectious elements (1908-10)

Fonction exercée par les granullations du bacille de Koch dans la structure du memme bacille. Passage des granulations à travers les filters suffisenment poreux. Infection latente. Patol. Geral 8(5), 1923

Verified an organic substance able to fight tuberculosis

Sobre a existência nos gânglios tuberculosos de uma substância capaz de destruir os bacilos da tuberculose. Nota preliminar. Braz. Med. 22(40):391, 1908

Ueber eine in den tuberkuloesen Lymphdruesen Vorhandene tuberkelbazillentoetende Substanz. Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. 50:78, 1909

Studies about granular form of microorganisms 

Novas concepções no domínio da biologia dos micróbios. Contribuição ao estudo da forma granular. Rev. Bras. Med. Pharmac 1:281-6, 1925

A forma granular como expressão do dynamismo morbígeno. J. Clinicos 9(15):255, 1928

Differential diagnosis between tuberculosis and other acid-resistant bacilli 

Diagnostico microscópico diferencial entre os bacilos da tuberculose e os outros acido-resistentes. Braz. Med. 22(41):401, 1908

Created the technique of double staining of acid-fast bacilli named Fontes method

Estudos sobre a tuberculose. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 1:51-68, 1909.  

Developed a new method for homogenizing mucus

Sobre um novo método de homogenização de escarros. Bras. Med. 27(22):213, 1913.

Simplified the technique for preparation of Petruschky culture medium

Soro de leite Petruschky. Simplificação da técnica para prepare desse meio de cultura. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 6(3):250, 1914.

Proposed a new model of tube for tubercle bacilli culture  

Um novo modelo de tubos para culturas de tuberculose. Patologia Geral 5, 1917 

HONORS

Genus Fontesia Travassos 1928 (Nematoda)

Doctor Honoris Causa, Vilnius University (1933)

Honorary Member, Studial Pentru Tuberculosi, Bucharest 

Honor Diploma, International Congress against Tuberculosis (1912)

Medicine & Physiology Nobel Prize nominee (1934)

See HTTP://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/pdf/tomo39/tomo39%28f2%29_I-IX.pdf (in Portuguese)