Information here is in the form of "notes" and is not "published" in the sense of a refereed journal. In event a policy statement should be needed, the following suggested guidelines may ensure against misunderstanding of our Newsletter:
1) In publications, whenever permitted, refer to MNL notes in the text, rather than in the bibliography. Specify "unpublished data", or "personal communication" (i.e., with the colleague's consent). The volume and page numbers might be given, as an aid to the reader.
2) When preparing your MNL notes, emphasize brief technical notes, updates, mutants, mapping data, and the like. Avoid presenting comprehensive material and analyses that are better directed to formal publication.
3) Never refer to MNL notes as "published".
4) If challenged, forward these comments as a statement of the purpose, intent, and policy of the cooperators who contribute to this Newsletter.

More and more cooperators supply notes, tables and figures in electronic form, and this greatly facilitates the editing and compiling.

Gifts to the Endowment Fund for support of the Newsletter now total over $85,000. Please see the listing, in the front of this issue, of donors whose generosity has made this total grow. We are all grateful for the support of our colleagues and of organizations with which we have common interests. The continuity and support necessary for collecting genetic and molecular information, evaluating it, and preparing gene lists, maps, and similar syntheses, however, is made possible only by sustained and ongoing encouragement of this work within the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, specifically as part of the regular research project of Ed Coe and Mike McMullen, and most recently as part of the Plant Genome Initiative project for development of a database prototype for maize. The extent and depth of the database and data syntheses will depend on continuity of the database support in the future.

Warm acknowledgment for help, advice and ideas during the past year is given to my colleagues, Mike McMullen, Mary Polacco, Georgia Davis, and Pat Byrne, for editing, for compilations and summarizations, for evaluating contents, and for providing creative advice. Their advice and encouragement, not to mention tolerance, is greatly appreciated.

Shirley Kowalewski once again skillfully edited and nurtured the contents from rough into fine form, twisted diverse electronic sources to suit and interpreted exotic scripts, structured the year's literature, and questioned quality or content, or gave creative advice, at critical moments. Mary Ann Steyaert booked addresses and subscriptions through the year, carried out literature searching and verifications with efficiency and accuracy, and artfully prepared the mockup. Denis Hancock steadily and enthusiastically enhanced our computer efficiency to a higher art. Thanks are also given to Lou Butler for contributions of accuracy to the gene list and other places. At University Printing Services, Yvonne Ball and the printshop staff again efficiently ensured the job was done promptly and well.

For submission of notes for the next issue (Number 69, 1995), please see details inside the back cover.

If you wish to subscribe to this Newsletter please use the form in the back of this issue. Gifts to the Endowment Fund, toward our goal of $100,000, will be very much appreciated.

Details about the 1995 Maize Genetics Conference, at Asilomar, California, will be mailed to former attendees in November, 1994; others may request the mailing by providing their address to Coe. The program and abstracts are provided by Bill Sheridan.
The Steering Committee for the 1994 Maize Genetics Conference is:
Kathy Newton, chair
Paul Chomet Tim Helentjaris Pat Schnable
Karen Cone Tom Peterson Sue Wessler
Alfons Gierl Bob Schmidt

Editor Coe

Return to the MNL 68 On-Line Index
Return to the Maize Newsletter Index
Return to the MaizeGDB Homepage