As reported in the 1995 MNL (MNL 69:130-131), two different lines called ws1 have been maintained by the COOP, ws1-Pawnee ws2-Pawnee, which traces back to a line obtained from E. G. Anderson in 1954, and ws1-Coop ws2-Coop, which was obtained from Charles Burnham and first grown by the COOP in 1953. Both mutants have a white leaf sheath phenotype and show duplicate factor inheritance, but the two mutants were never tested for allelism during the years they were maintained by the COOP. Last summer, plants homozygous for the two mutants were crossed with each other, and the F1 placed in our winter nursery for observation. All of the progeny plants had white sheaths, indicating allelism. Nothing is known about the origin of these two sets of mutants, so it is conceivable that they could both be the same ws1 ws2 mutant alleles described by Kempton (J Hered 12:224-226, 1929). Until this is resolved, the two mutant lines will be maintained separately.

Return to the MNL 71 On-Line Index
Return to the Maize Newsletter Index
Return to the MaizeGDB Homepage