A. P. J. Trinci

Early life and education Trinci's parents, both born in Italy, had a troubled marriage and separated before his birth in Swindon. His father, a builder, lived in Italy, and Trinci did not meet his father until he was 11 years old. Trinci grew up in Barking, London. During World War II, a V-1 flying bomb passed through his bedroom (while he was absent), brought down the ceiling, but failed to explode until it landed about 100 yards down the road and killed several people.

Educated at St Bonaventure's Catholic School, Trinci studied Botany at Durham University in 1959. He stayed on to complete a Master of Science (MSc) degree, where his research focus was fungal physiology.

Trinci served as a secondary school science teacher in Rayleigh, Essex before returning to Durham for PhD research supervised by Geoffrey Howard Banbury (1920–1983) and completed in 1965 on the physiology and tropisms of tall conidiophores of the fungus Aspergillus giganteus.

Career and research In 1964 Trinci was appointed a lecturer in the microbiology department of Queen Elizabeth College (QEC). At QEC he did research on fungal growth kinetics and physiology. that enabled "direct observation of colony growth and organisation of the mycelium by hyphal tip growth and branch initiation". He made substantial contributions to the development of Quorn Their collaboration elucidated the life cycles of anaerobic fungi in the gastrointestinal tracts of large, mammalian herbivores. A phytase enzyme, isolated from Penicillium species, is useful in releasing phosphate in animal feeds.

Trinci supported David Denning's creation of the University of Manchester's Manchester Fungal Infections Group, an international centre for fungal infection biology. Trinci served as a trustee of the Fungal Infection Institute from September 2006 to January 2011.

His former PhD students include Keith Gull who worked on the antifungal agent Griseofulvin.

Selected publications Trinci's publications include:

Griseofulvin inhibits Fungal Mitosis

Anaerobic fungi in the digestive tract of mammalian herbivores and their potential for exploitation

(Note: The article is presented in both English and Spanish; Trinci's name is published aa "Tony Trinci".)

Personal life In January 1961 Trinci married Margaret Doherty, whom he met at Durham University. Upon his death in 2020 he was survived by his widow, their three children, John, Sarah and Rachel, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.