Frances Meehan Latterell
Encyclopedia
Frances Meehan Latterell (December 21, 1920 – November 5, 2008) was an American plant pathologist whose research in the late 1940s opened a major new area of inquiry into the physiological basis of plant disease. She was the senior author on a classic 1947 paper showing that the toxin victorin, produced by the pathogenic fungus
Helminthosporium victoriae, caused symptoms of Victoria blight of oats, a new disease first described by Latterell and her major professor in 1946. This discovery of a host-specific toxin, as victorin was later named, gave scores of subsequent researchers new model systems for studying plant disease.
, an accomplished child pianist, received her BA degree from the University of Kansas City and MS and PhD degrees from Iowa State University
. During her career as research plant pathologist, US army biological laboratories, Fort Detrick
, Maryland and plant pathologist, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
, Frederick, Maryland
, she conducted extensive research on cereal diseases, including gray leaf spot of corn and rice blast. In recognition of her long and active membership in the Potomac Division of the American Phytopathological Society, Latterell was given the Division’s Distinguished Service Award in 1987.
Since retirement in 1996 she and her husband, Dr. Richard Latterell
, an environmentalist and biology professor emeritus at Shepherd University
, have been active in animal welfare and environmental causes including water pollution and lead arsenate pollution in housing developments built on former apple orchards in Jefferson County, West Virginia
, where they have lived for many years in an 18th-century farmhouse nearby Moler's Crossroads. They have also been active participants in local zoning and political campaigns. From 2005 to 2007 R. Latterell and other citizens have been the targets of a SLAPP suit for two million dollars in damages, seeking to punish them for their citizen activism. R. Latterell and the two other defendants were granted summary judgment in April, 2007 by the Circuit Court
of Berkeley County, West Virginia in a decision upholding the defendants' First Amendment
right to utilize administrative proceedings. Vegetarian, atheist, and childless, in 2005 the Latterells put their farm under a perpetual conservation easement
under the auspices of the West Virginia Farmland Protection Act, a statute whose passage the Latterells actively supported.
Francis Mehan Latterell died on November 5, 2008.
s which suffer from Victoria blight, but causes no symptoms on cultivars which resist the blight. Luke went on to show that different strains of the fungus create different levels of toxin, which correlate with the effects seen in oats.
In 1973 Latterell and Luke shared the prestigious Ruth Allen Award in plant pathology. Its citation said, "The work of these two investigators provided the impetus for, and guided the direction of, much of the research on the role of toxins in plant diseases during the past two decades, victorin alone has been the subject of more than 100 research reports from several different laboratories. Their work also served as the model for research on many other diseases in which toxins play a role. Laboratory exercises based on the methods developed with victorin are a routine part of plant pathology courses in a large number of institutions. The demonstration that toxins may provide valid substitutes for pathogens led to practical applications in mass screening for disease resistance and in toxin tests for identification of mixtures in seed lots." (Phytopathology, v. 63, December 1973, p. 9)
On August 17, 2010 Frances Latterell was posthumously recognized at the 5th International Rice Blast Conference with a Lifetime Dedication to Rice Blast Research Award.
The Ruth Allen
Award has been given since 1966 by the American Phytopathological Society. It honors individuals who have made an outstanding, innovative research contribution that has changed, or has the potential to change, the direction of research in any field of plant pathology. (It has no relation to the pipeline industry's Ruth Allen award established in 2005.)
The fungus' asexual stage was called Helminthosporium victoriae when Latterell and Luke published their work. Since then it has been renamed Bipolaris victoriae. Its sexual stage (teleomorph) is called Cochliobolus victoriae.
Latterell's classic paper was "Differential Phytotoxicity of Metabolic By-Products of Helminthosporium victoriae" published in Science
, v. 104, pp. 413–414, September 19, 1947.
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
Helminthosporium victoriae, caused symptoms of Victoria blight of oats, a new disease first described by Latterell and her major professor in 1946. This discovery of a host-specific toxin, as victorin was later named, gave scores of subsequent researchers new model systems for studying plant disease.
Life
Latterell, a native of Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, an accomplished child pianist, received her BA degree from the University of Kansas City and MS and PhD degrees from Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
. During her career as research plant pathologist, US army biological laboratories, Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick is a U.S. Army Medical Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center for the United States' biological weapons program ....
, Maryland and plant pathologist, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Agricultural Research Service
The Agricultural Research Service is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture . ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area...
, Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
, she conducted extensive research on cereal diseases, including gray leaf spot of corn and rice blast. In recognition of her long and active membership in the Potomac Division of the American Phytopathological Society, Latterell was given the Division’s Distinguished Service Award in 1987.
Since retirement in 1996 she and her husband, Dr. Richard Latterell
Richard Latterell
Richard L. Latterell is an American environmental activist, He was a Biology professor at Shepherd University from 1968 to 1992...
, an environmentalist and biology professor emeritus at Shepherd University
Shepherd University
Shepherd University, formerly Shepherd College, is a state-funded university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, United States. The University currently serves more than 4,200 students.- Accreditation :...
, have been active in animal welfare and environmental causes including water pollution and lead arsenate pollution in housing developments built on former apple orchards in Jefferson County, West Virginia
Jefferson County, West Virginia
Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 53,498. Its county seat is Charles Town...
, where they have lived for many years in an 18th-century farmhouse nearby Moler's Crossroads. They have also been active participants in local zoning and political campaigns. From 2005 to 2007 R. Latterell and other citizens have been the targets of a SLAPP suit for two million dollars in damages, seeking to punish them for their citizen activism. R. Latterell and the two other defendants were granted summary judgment in April, 2007 by the Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
of Berkeley County, West Virginia in a decision upholding the defendants' First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
right to utilize administrative proceedings. Vegetarian, atheist, and childless, in 2005 the Latterells put their farm under a perpetual conservation easement
Conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement is an encumbrance — sometimes including a transfer of usage rights — which creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a qualified land...
under the auspices of the West Virginia Farmland Protection Act, a statute whose passage the Latterells actively supported.
Francis Mehan Latterell died on November 5, 2008.
Toxins Cause Disease
The idea that toxins caused plant diseases goes back to papers in 1886 and 1913, but Latterell's 1947 paper and a 1955 paper by H. H. Luke gave the first proofs. Latterell showed the fungus creates a toxin which causes the same symptoms as Victoria blight on the same oat cultivarCultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s which suffer from Victoria blight, but causes no symptoms on cultivars which resist the blight. Luke went on to show that different strains of the fungus create different levels of toxin, which correlate with the effects seen in oats.
In 1973 Latterell and Luke shared the prestigious Ruth Allen Award in plant pathology. Its citation said, "The work of these two investigators provided the impetus for, and guided the direction of, much of the research on the role of toxins in plant diseases during the past two decades, victorin alone has been the subject of more than 100 research reports from several different laboratories. Their work also served as the model for research on many other diseases in which toxins play a role. Laboratory exercises based on the methods developed with victorin are a routine part of plant pathology courses in a large number of institutions. The demonstration that toxins may provide valid substitutes for pathogens led to practical applications in mass screening for disease resistance and in toxin tests for identification of mixtures in seed lots." (Phytopathology, v. 63, December 1973, p. 9)
On August 17, 2010 Frances Latterell was posthumously recognized at the 5th International Rice Blast Conference with a Lifetime Dedication to Rice Blast Research Award.
The Ruth Allen
Ruth F. Allen
Ruth Florence Allen was an American plant pathologist. She increased the understanding of cytology of rust fungi, which are a chief cause of cereal diseases. These diseases can have a devastating effect on coffee, apple and pine trees....
Award has been given since 1966 by the American Phytopathological Society. It honors individuals who have made an outstanding, innovative research contribution that has changed, or has the potential to change, the direction of research in any field of plant pathology. (It has no relation to the pipeline industry's Ruth Allen award established in 2005.)
The fungus' asexual stage was called Helminthosporium victoriae when Latterell and Luke published their work. Since then it has been renamed Bipolaris victoriae. Its sexual stage (teleomorph) is called Cochliobolus victoriae.
Latterell's classic paper was "Differential Phytotoxicity of Metabolic By-Products of Helminthosporium victoriae" published in Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, v. 104, pp. 413–414, September 19, 1947.