PORTRAITS OF FAMOUS PERSONS FROM BECEJ

Prof. Dr. Zoltán Király
research professor, academic

Dr. Zoltán Király is a research professor at the Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was born in 1925, in Becej, Yugoslavia. He obtained the degree of an agricultural engineer at the Faculty of Agriculture in 1948, and it was in 1957, when he became a candidate accomplishing a research doctorate, in 1967 he got the PhD in agricultural science. He has been active for more than fifty years in research activities in the field of plant pathology and biochemistry.
In the focus of his scientific research is biochemical and physiological aspects of plant diseases and disease-resistance as well as analysis of physiological basis of resistance breeding. Prof. Zoltán Király is the founder of a new, modern research school, plant pathophysiology. He was among the first researchers who applied biochemical and physiological methods in analysing plant diseases and disease resistance, later he started research in hormonal diseases in plants. One of his most significant achievements in the field of resistance biology is that he proved a correlation between intensifying syntesis of nucleic acid and protein and virus resistance.
His work in the field of disease resistancy discovers the mechanism of hypersensitive reaction caused by fungal infections. He got involved in the overall program which tries to protect the environment by breeding disease resistant plants and reducing the use of pesticides to the minimum. He created new artificial infection methods and resistance testing procedures.

He has published more than 200 scientific studies on the respiration of infected plants, their phenol-metabolism, protein and nukleic acid metabolism, hormonal balance and the role of free oxygen radicals in the occurance of necrosis symptoms. More than half of the studies were published in international periodicals. In the past 30 years he visited numerous European and American universities and held lectures presenting results of his research.

In 1973 he became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was the president of the Committee for Plant Protection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for many years, currently he is honorary president. Editor of more prestigious professional inland and foreign periodicals. He was a laureate professor at the JATE in Szeged, Head of Department at the Faculty of Horticultural Science for three years.

Awards and Acknowledgements:

• 1972: Academic Award, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
• 1973: honorary doctor, Pannon University of Agriculture
• 1983: State Award, Presidential Committee. For his achievements in the field of environmentally friendly plant protection, chemical research and experimental research in insect ecology. Together with Tibor Jermy and György Matolcsy
• 1996: honorary doctor, Faculty of Horticultural Science, Budapest
• 1998: honorary doctor, University of Agriculture, Gödöllő
• 2000: honorary doctor, University of Agriculture, Debrecen
• 2003: honorary doctor, West-Hungarian University
• 2004: Special Award, Akademia Publishing House
• 2010: Academic Gold Medal

Civic and Professional Involvement:

• Committe for Environmental Science (permanent member)
• Advisory Board for Physiological Science (Committee for Academic Research)
• Plant Protection Committee (honorary president)
• Plant Physiology Committee, Environment and Health Committee
• Hungarian Plant Physiology Association (honorary president)
• Hungarian Scholarship Board, Agricultural Advisory Board
• Szent István Academy
• Deutsche Phytomedizinische Gesellschaft

Scientific publications:

• Király, Z. (editor) (1965): Host-Parasite Relations in Plant Pathology. Hung Acad. Sci., Budapest, pp. 1–257.
• Goodman, R.N., Király, Z. and Zaitlin, M. (1967): The Biochemistry and Physiology of Infectious Plant Disease. Van Nostrand, New Yersey, USA, pp. 1‒354.
• Király, Z. (1968): A növényi betegség-ellenállóság élettana. (Physiology of Disease Resistance in Plants). Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 1–138.
• Király, Z., Klement, Z., Solymosy, F. and Vörös, J. (1970, 1974): Methods in Plant Pathology. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1970, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1974, pp. 1‒509. In Russian: Metodi fitopatologii. Kolos, Moscow, 1974. In Polish: Fitopatologia wybór metod badawczych. Panstowe Wydawnictowo Rolnicze i Lense. Warszawa, 1977. In Chinese ….., Peking, 1976.
• Király, Z. and Szalay-Marzsó, L. (editors) (1971): Biochemical and Ecological Aspects of Plant Parasite Relations. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 1–425.
• Király, Z. (editor) (1977): Current Topics in Plant Pathology. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 1‒443.
• Király, Z. (1980): Defenses Triggered by the Invader: Hypersensitivity. In J.G. Horsfall and E.B. Cowling (ed.): Plant Disease. An Advanced Treatise. Vol. V. Academic Press, New York, pp. 201–224.