1. Trisomic stocks. An effort was made during the summer of 1940 to assemble a set of all the knovm trisomic stocks, to produce stocks of those which were missing, and to make appropriate crosses to build up reserve stocks of all of the trisomes for the future use of cooperators. It was found that seed was available of all of the trisomes except one and four. Individual trisomic plants lacking B chromosomes were selected by actual chromosome counts in each of the eight available stocks. Genetic tester stocks were also examined cygologically in an effort to get together two complete sets of testers lacking B chromosomes, each set to have different endosperm or seedling genes with one good gene in each chromosome. These two sets of testers to be used for crossing alternately with the different trisomic stocks in order to maintain vigorous, genetically identifiable trisomic stocks for general use. Unfortunately, several of the present trisomic stocks are very much lacking in vigor and uniformity and are segregating for various lethals, with the result that although we started the season with five or more trisomic seedlings in each of the eight stocks, at the end of the season we had not more than one or two poor trisomic ears from two or three of the stocks. But from the other trisomic stocks we have anywhere from 3 to 10 good trisomic ears.

It is especially important in working with trisomic plants to have vigorous, uniform stocks. A number of the trisomic types are inherently weak. In fact the trisomic plants in most of the trisomic stocks apparently come chiefly from the smaller seeds and are apt to be weaker than their disomic sibs in the seedling stage; at least it was our experience that from 75 to 90 percent of the smallest seeds from trisomic cars of the 8 different trisomics we worked with produced trisomic individuals. It would be highly desirable also to maintain a high degree of uniformity of plant type in the trisomic stocks in order to be able to pick as many as possible of the trisomic individuals on the basis of their phenotypic appearance. As an experiment in this direction, we crossed a number of different trisomic plants with pollen of several different inbreds which were known to contain no B chromosomes to see what the trisomics would look like in the various F₁ populations. In our cultures last summer we could, with reasonable accuracy, distinguish the trisomic plants from their disomic sibs in our stocks of numbers 5, 8, and 9, with indications that at least several others could be detected phenotypically in more uniform material.

Another procedure for obtaining very uniform trisomic stocks is to isolate the various trisomes from the selfed progeny of triploids obtained by intercrossing diploids and tetraploids derived from a common inbred parent. In attempting to do this we have learned from experience that it is advisable to start with a very vigorous inbred; otherwise the triploid progenies from which the trisomes must be isolated are rather weak and not too satisfactory to work with.

It is expected that the two missing trisomes, numbers one and four, will be available for distribution next year. Selfed ears showing trisomic ratios for su and similar material segregating for bm2 were obtained last summer from individual plants in triploid progenies known from chromosome counts to have from one to three extra A chromosomes.

Technical assistance for much of the routine cytological work in connection with these trisomic stocks was furnished by the Maize Cooperation.