Dorothy Cayley

Cayley was born in Sri Lanka in 1874 where her father, Sir Richard Cayley, was the 14th Chief Justice. Cayley came to England from Sri Lanka when she was seven and attended Stamford High School. She went to London University before studying horticulture at University College, Reading.[1] Cayley was especially interested in plant disease and soils and entered the board of education's examination in Horticulture which gained her first-class honours and a medal while in Reading. She also took a first class in the Royal Horticultural Society Examination and was appointed as the Superintendent of the gardens that belonged to the Botanical Department at Reading.[1]

In 1910 Cayley volunteered at the John Innes Horticultural Institute (now the John Innes Centre), where she worked in the attic of the Manor House before the laboratories were built. Bateson offered her a minor studentship in 1911.[2]

Dorothy was also a talented artist, she drew the fungus she was examining and took her paint on holidays.[1]

Between 1914 and 1918 She contributed to the war effort by doing a wide range of war work such as: cutting bracken in Savernake Forest for army horse bedding and tool setting for Vickers airplane factory. She resigned from her minor studentship in 1916 to commit to helping for the last 18 months of the war. Cayley assisted the Royal Army Medical investigations for Tetanus at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine in London.[1]

A tulip with the streaks caused by the virus

In 1919, Cayley returned to the John Innes Horticultural Institute, where was given the title 'Mycologist'. She was a founding member of the Genetics Society in 1919.[1] Building on the work of Sir Alfred Daniel Hall, Cayley started investigating the phenomenon of "Tulip Breaking" - the formation of feather-like patterns on tulip petals.[3] Through bulb-grafting experiments, she found that "Tulip Breaking" could be transferred from one plant to another, rather than being genetic in nature. She concluded that the infectious agent was a virus as the filtrate of an infected bulb did not cause "breaking", and that the virus was probably spread by aphids.[3] Tulip enthusiasts who wanted "true colours" were pleased as the research showed that "breaking" could be prevented by stopping infection of the bulbs (for example, by aphids).[4][5] Cayley described her findings in two articles published in 1928 and 1932.[6][5] Cayley was also interested in slime moulds and she created a better understanding on the sexual reproduction in moulds.[1]

Cayley retired from the John Innes Horticultural Institution in 1938,[2] and a year later she was the vice president of the British Mycological Society in 1939.[7]