I. FOREWORD

The Notes in this Newsletter are voluntarily shared "Conversations among Cooperators." This is not a refereed journal -- the data and ideas here are not published but are presented with the understanding that they will not be used in publications without specific consent of the authors. Cooperators provide brief technical notes, updates, mutant descriptions, segregation ratios, tables of mapping data, developmental and anatomical information and techniques, clones, biochemical functions, and the like. Comprehensive material and analyses are better directed to formal publication. Maize Cooperators have the tradition of sharing information with colleagues, not only in MNL but also in many unheralded conversations, correspondence, and shared stocks and clones. By sharing our research information, we contribute to the advancement of biology and to the power of shared technical knowledge.

Beginning in 1997, MNL became a Virtual Hotletter and Linkletter! Notes submitted at any time go verbatim into MaizeDB as received, flagged as future items for the next issue (http://mnl.maizegdb.org/mnl/73/). We progressively incorporate figures and tables as electronic images, and we link the articles to database objects for user access and for the development of summaries and syntheses such as the Genelist, Maps, and Indexes. In parallel, redacting of copy (editing and formatting) in preparation for the press proceeds by desktop processing. After the deadline passed, the print version of this issue, simply containing the Notes received to that date; the Address List; Stock Center Report and Stock List; Maize Database; Probe Bank; and UMC 1998 Molecular Marker Map, has been finalized and sent to the press. Indexes to Symbols and to Authors and Names cited in this MNL issue are included. Assembly of portions of MNL that represent syntheses of information (e.g., Gene List, Genetic Maps, Zealand, Recent Maize Publications) will be done periodically insofar as possible, but on a separate schedule from MNL. Syntheses will also be present in MaizeDB, where they can be viewed or printed by MaizeDB users.

A new item of correspondence from 1929, found during the research of Lee Kass (see MNL 71, page iv), is reproduced on pages 130-131 in this issue.

Gifts to the Endowment Fund for support of the Newsletter have grown to well over $125,000. 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. Gifts to the Endowment Fund are very much appreciated, to assure that costs of production are met, but more importantly to underwrite distribution to deserving institutions, libraries and individuals. A bequest from Ginny Harrison to the Endowment Fund furthers our emphasis on teaching and education initiatives in MNL and on the net.

The continuity and support necessary for collecting genetic and molecular information from the literature and from individual contributions; evaluating; and preparing gene lists, maps, and similar syntheses, is made possible by the USDA - Agricultural Research Service through the MaizeDB program, of which Mary Polacco is Curator. We urge you with strongest enthusiasm to use, assess, and contribute to the database.

Shirley Kowalewski again refined and redacted the copy; cursed diverse electronic sources and exotic scripts or performed hand entry; structured indexes; questioned quality or content; and gave the editor a quality technician's creative advice. Beth Bennett contributed with diligence and precision to many tasks, including library and literature work, composition, and checking of accuracy and completeness. My colleagues Mary Polacco and Mike McMullen have never yet refused to give invaluable advice and encouragement. At University Printing Services, Yvonne Ball and the printshop staff again efficiently ensured the job was done promptly and well.

Information about the 1999 Maize Genetics Conference, at Grand Geneva Lodge, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, March 11-14, 1999, is on the MaizeDB Web, http://mnl.maizegdb.org, and information packets will be mailed to former attendees in November 1998; others may request the mailing by providing their address to Coe. The program and abstracts are prepared by Bill Sheridan; back copies are available from Coe. Electronic submission and "Webification" of abstracts by Mary Polacco, started in 1996, will be used for the 1999 Conference. The Steering Committee for the 1999 Maize Genetics Conference is:

Becky Boston Ben Bowen Kelly Dawe Al Kriz Jane Langdale Mike McMullen Neelima Sinha Julie Vogel, Co-Chair Cliff Weil, Co-Chair

Ex officio: Karen Cone, Treasurer Marty Sachs, local coordinator

Preparing notes for the next issue (Number 73, 1999)?

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Your clone can be mapped, and deposited in the Maize Probe Bank. Please see the Clone Information Sheet in the back of this issue.

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Editor Coe

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