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USDA/ARS/MWA - Soybean/Maize Germplasm, Pathology & Genetics Research Unit & University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign - Department of Crop Sciences |
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| S-123 Turner Hall
1102 South Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801-4798 |
(217) 333-6631 [phone]
(217) 333-6064 [fax] [email protected] [internet] http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/maize [URL] |
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15,247 seed samples have been supplied in response to 332 requests, for 2002. This includes one large request from a collaborator on the Maize Gene Discovery Project that totaled 9,766 packets. A total of 86 requests were received from 18 foreign countries. Approximately 90% of our requests were received by electronic mail or through our order form on the World Wide Web. Popular stock requests include the IBM RIL mapping populations, Hi-II lines, Stock 6, ig1 lines, transposable element lines, and B-A translocations. Even without the one large request, we have set a record for both number of requests and samples sent this year.
We have listed more stocks in our Phenotype Only category. These are stocks that have been donated to the Stock Center over the years, and have been classified according to their mutant phenotype. For the most part, these mutants have not as yet been allele tested, nor have they been located to a chromosome arm. While we expect that most of these will represent new alleles of known loci, some will represent unique, as yet undescribed loci. Over the past few years, some mutants in this class have been mapped and/or allele tested and where appropriate, the now characterized mutant stocks have been added to our main catalog. We are now listing all of these mutants to give cooperators that are interested in specific traits, easier access to these mutants.
Approximately 10.5 acres of nursery were grown this summer at the Crop Sciences Research & Education Center located at the University of Illinois. Wetter than normal weather in the early spring delayed the planting of our nurseries. However, growing conditions were excellent, and overall we had a good pollination season. With additional water supplied by irrigation during a dry period, we obtained good increases of most stocks grown this year.
Special plantings were made of several categories of stocks:
2. Plantings were also made from donated stocks from the collections of Jack Beckett (B-A translocation lines), Vicki Chandler (mop1, pac1, and B1-I lines), Greg Doyle (inversions), Giuseppe Gavazzi (lil1 and Sn1 alleles), Sarah Hake (Gn1 and Wab1), Jerry Kermicle (extensive collection of Brink's R1 alleles), Rob Martienssen (MTM miniature kernel mutant lines), Don McCarty (vp14), Jerald Pataky (Ht1 lines), Enrico Pé (bd1 alleles), Tom Peterson (Ufo1), Scott Poethig (epc1 alleles), Paul Scott (o2 in various inbred backgrounds), Bill Tracy (inbred conversions of su1 and sh2), and others. We expect to receive additional accessions of stocks from maize geneticists within the upcoming year.
3. We conducted allelism tests of several categories of mutants with similar phenotype or chromosome location. We found additional alleles of pink scutellum1 and yellow endosperm1. In this manner, we hope to move stocks from our vast collection of unplaced uncharacterized mutants and integrate them into the main collection.
4. We conducted linkage tests of several mutants that had been placed to chromosome arm using B-A translocations or waxy-marked A-A translocations. A more precise location was determined for inhibitor of r1 aleurone color2.
5. Two acres were devoted to the propagation of the large collection of cytological variants, including A-A translocation stocks and inversions. In this collection is a series of waxy1-marked translocations that are used for mapping unplaced mutants. Over the years, pedigree and classification problems arose during the propagation of these stocks. We were able to sort through the problem ones, and we can now supply good sources proven by linkage tests to include the correct translocated chromosomes. Additional translocation stocks were tested this last year. Results of these tests will be reported in the next issue of the Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter.
6. Stocks produced from the NSF project "Maize Gene Discovery, Sequencing and Phenotypic Analysis" (see: http://zmdb.iastate.edu/) were grown this summer. Approximately 30% of these represented plants that originally had to be outcrossed, and needed to be selfed to analyze for mutant segregation. The remaining 70% were seed increases that were planted from those families that originally yielded poorly. These increases help to maintain adequate seed stock to fill future requests. Additionally, we grew 3,184 families of this material to screen for new adult plant mutant traits (see below).
We continue to grow a winter nursery of 0.5 acres at the Illinois Crop Improvement Association�s facilities in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico. We had an excellent winter crop last year, and all indications are that the crop will perform well this year as well. We plan to continue growing our winter nurseries at this location.
The NSF project "Maize Gene Discovery, Sequencing and Phenotypic Analysis" has, to date, generated 31,163 stocks that have been sent to the Stock Center. All of these stocks were screened for ear and kernel mutants at the Stock Center; families with ample seed supplies had two samples removed for additional trait screening. The first sample from each family was sent to UC Berkeley for seedling mutant screening. From the second sample, 3,184 families of the most genetically active grids were planted and screened (by us, other project members and colleagues in the Maize Genetics community) at the University of Illinois for adult plant mutant traits. This was an organized mutant hunt and was very successful in the discovery of novel adult plant mutants. We plan to organize another mutant hunt next summer. The remaining seed generated by this project was placed into cold storage to fulfill requests. Results from the mutant screenings can be found at the ZmDB: Phenotype Database (http://zmfmdb.zool.iastate.edu/). Future work will involve increasing stocks as necessary to maintain seed supply for requests and continue scoring these stocks for kernel and adult plant mutant traits.
We received a budget increase from USDA/ARS and are in the process of
hiring a permanent person to handle the new Plant Genome stocks that we
are receiving and also an Information Technology Specialist to help us
with making our data more accessible to the maize research community.
| Marty Sachs | Philip Stinard | Janet Day Jackson | Shane Zimmerman |
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