Theodor Otto Diener
Theodor Otto Diener | |
---|---|
Born | Zürich, Switzerland | 28 February 1921
Died | 28 March 2023 Beltsville, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 102)
Alma mater | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Dr sc. ETH 1946) |
Known for | Discovery of viroids |
Spouses |
|
Children | 3 |
Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | Plant pathology |
Institutions | Washington State University, United States Department of Agriculture |
Theodor Otto Diener (28 February 1921 – 28 March 2023) was a Swiss-American
Biography
Diener was born in Zürich, Switzerland on 28 February 1921.[2][3] He attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, from which he graduated with a Dr.sc.nat.ETH degree in 1946.[4] After graduation, he worked as a research assistant at the Swiss Federal Experiment Station for Viticulture and Horticulture at Wädenswil,[4] where he discovered on leaves of a cherry tree the first occurrence in more than 100 years of a rust fungus (Puccinia cerasi), a fungus which is common south of the Alps, but is rarely seen in the north.[5]
In 1949, he emigrated to the United States, where, after a brief tenure at the
In 1959, Diener joined the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service Pioneering Laboratory for Plant Virology at the Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland,[4] where he investigated the cause of the potato spindle tuber disease. This led to the unexpected discovery of the causative agent, a small RNA molecule, eighty times smaller than the smallest known viruses, for which he proposed the term viroid.[8][9] Later, viroids were characterized as single stranded covalently closed circular RNA molecules occurring as highly base-paired rod-like structures.[10] Viroids, together with viroid-like satellite RNAs have been officially endorsed by the International Committee for Virus Taxonomy (ICTV) as a novel order of subviral agents,[11] which, in its 2014 publication, encompassed 2 families, 8 genera and 32 species.[12]
In 1989, Diener hypothesized that the unique properties of viroids make them more plausible candidates as "living relics" of a hypothetical, pre-cellular RNA world than are Introns or other RNAs then considered as such.[13] In 2016, Diener reevaluated his hypothesis, with the result that both reviewers agreed that Diener's hypothesis was still valid, but that alternative hypotheses positing a more recent origin of viroids from cellular RNAs needed also to be considered.[14]
Diener had three sons with his first wife, Shirley Baumann, before they divorced. He was then married to Sybil Fox from 1968 until her death in 2012.[15] Diener died at his home in Beltsville, Maryland on 28 March 2023, at the age of 102.[15]
Diener published 2 books on viroids, 120 peer-reviewed articles, 53 chapters in books, and lectured on viroids worldwide
Awards and honors
- 1968: Campbell Award, American Institute of Biological Sciences
- 1969: Superior Service Award, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- 1973: Fellow Award; American Phytopathological Society
- 1975: Alexander von Humboldt Award, Alexander von Humboldt Society
- 1976: Ruth Allen Award: American Phytopathological Society[16]
- 1977: Elected Member; U.S. National Academy of Sciences[17]
- 1978: Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1979: Elected Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large, Cornell University
- 1980: Elected member, Leopoldina, German Academy of Sciences
- 1987: Wolf Prize in Agriculture, Wolf Foundation/State of Israel[18]
- 1987: National Medal of Science, USA[19]
- 1988: E.C. Stakman Award, University of Minnesota[20]
- 1988: Distinguished Service Award, Potomac Division, American Phytopathological Society
- 1989: Inducted into Science Hall of Fame, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture[21]
- 1989: Named Distinguished Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
- 1994: Named Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
See also
References
- ^ Washington Post obituary
- ^ Lebensdaten nach American Men and Women of Science, Thomson Gale 2004
- ISBN 978-0-8379-5702-9.
- ^ a b c d Independent Academia
- ^ Diener, T.O. (1949) Ein Rostpilz auf Kirschenblättern. Schweriz. Zeitschr. f. Obst-und Weinbau. 58:228-230.
- ^ Diener, T.O., Dekker, C.A. (1954) Isolation and identification of L-pipecolic acid from Western-X-diseased peach leaves. Phytopathology: 44:643-645.
- ISBN 978-1-47872253-3.
- PMID 5095900.
- PMID 4636118.
- PMID 1069269.
- ^ King, A.M.Q., Adams. M.J., Carstens, E.B., Lefkovitz, E.J. et al. (2012) Virus Taxonomy . Elsevier Academic Press, PP. 1221-1259, TN: 949565
- PMID 25216773.
- PMID 2480600.
- PMID 27016066.
- ^ a b Langer, Emily (14 April 2023). "Theodor Diener, scientist who discovered the tiny viroid, dies at 102". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ Ruth Allen Award
- ^ National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) (1885). Report of the National Academy of Sciences. National Academies. pp. 57–. NAP:12071.
- ^ Wolf Prize in Agriculture - 1987
- ^ The President's National Medal of Science
- ^ E.C. Stakman Award
- ^ Agricultural Research Service
- USDA-ARS. 1989. Tracking the Elusive Viroid