Dennis Gonsalves, director of the USDA Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo, was selected for the USDA Agricultural Research Service Science Hall of Fame for a discovery leading to papaya plants that fend off the ringspot virus.

Gonsalves, an inventor of the genetically modified papaya, also is a plant pathologist.

He "is respected by colleagues worldwide for his pioneering research on viruses that attack fruits and vegetables," said ARS administrator Edward Knipling, in a news release. "Among other accomplishments, Dr. Gonsalves led a team that used techniques of modern biotechnology to equip papaya plants with resistance to papaya ringspot virus."

The ARS Science Hall of Fame program, established in 1986, recognizes agency researchers for outstanding career achievements in agricultural sciences. Recipients must be retired or eligible to retire to receive the award.

Plaques honoring the inductees are on permanent display at the ARS visitor center in Beltsville, Md. The ARS is the USDA's chief scientific research agency.