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Theodor O. Diener

Plant Sciences

Theodor Otto Diener (28 February 1921 to 28 March 2023) was a Swiss-American plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland. In 1971 he discovered that potato spindle tuber disease was caused not by a virus but by a short strand of RNA with no protein coat, which he named a viroid, a discovery the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses later recognized as founding a new order of subviral agents. He received the Wolf Prize in Agriculture.

Facts
Birth Year
1921 1
Death Year
2023 1
Nationality
Swiss-American 1
Defining Contribution
Discovered viroids in 1971 while investigating potato spindle tuber disease, identifying the causative agent as a short strand of RNA with no protein coat, far smaller than any known virus. 1
Connections

Works In

Plant Pathology, Disciplines
Source Theodor O. Diener (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Theodor O. Diener (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • opening sentence, dates
    Theodor Otto Diener (28 February 1921-28 March 2023) was a Swiss-American plant pathologist who discovered viroids in 1971, recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as a new order of subviral agents.
  • opening sentence, nationality clause
    Theodor Otto Diener (28 February 1921-28 March 2023) was a Swiss-American plant pathologist who discovered viroids in 1971, recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as a new order of subviral agents.
  • Viroid section
    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.
  • Works In: Plant Pathology, Lead paragraph, field of work
    Theodor Otto Diener (28 February 1921-28 March 2023) was a Swiss-American plant pathologist who discovered viroids in 1971, recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as a new order of subviral agents.
View the Source
Wikidata: Theodor O. Diener
Wikidata Q2463965, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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