This seed is being distributed in accordance with
the `Wheat Workers' Code of Ethics for Distribution of
Germplasm', developed and adopted by the National Wheat
Improvement Committee on 5 November, 1994. Acceptance of this
seed constitutes agreement.
1. The originating breeder, institution, or company
has certain rights to the unreleased material. These rights are
not waived with the distribution of seeds or plant material but
remain with the originator.
2. The recipient of unreleased seeds or plant material
shall make no secondary distributions of the germplasm without
the permission of the owner/breeder.
3. The owner/breeder in distributing unreleased seeds
or other propagating material grants permission for its use in
tests under the recipient's control or as a parent for making
crosses from which selections will be made. Uses for which written
approval of the owner/breeder is required include:
(a) Testing in regional or international nurseries;
(b) Increase and release as a cultivar;
(c) Reselection from within the stock;
(d) Use as a parent of a commercial F1 hybrid, synthetic, or
multiline cultivar;
(e) Use as a recurrent parent in backcrossing;
(f) Mutation breeding;
(g) Selection of somaclonal variants; or
(h) Use as a recipient parent for asexual gene transfer, including
gene transfer using molecular genetic techniques.
4. Plant materials of this nature entered in crop cultivar trials shall not be used for seed increase. Reasonable precautions to ensure retention or recovery of plant materials at harvest shall be taken.
STATUS OF THE WHEAT DATABASE, GrainGenes.
Jon Wong1, David Matthews2, and Olin D. Anderson1.
1U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Western Regional Research Center, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA.
2Department of Biometry and Plant Breeding, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
GrainGenes, the USDA's
Plant Genome Database for small grains (wheat, barley, rye, oats)
and sugarcane, enters its fourth year of existence in 1996. Begun
in 1993 as part of the USDA-National Agricultural Library's
Plant Genome Research Program, GrainGenes continues to grow in
size and scope, as well as in its availability and accessibility
to small grains researchers.
Since 1993, GrainGenes has increased its data offerings
substantially, because of the continued efforts of its data coordinators
and the many contributions GrainGenes has received from international
supporters. Important international contributions have come from
Australia (Bob McIntosh - Catalogue of Gene Symbols for
Wheat); Mexico (CIMMYT - germplasm, trait, and colleague
data); the United Kingdom, Brazil; Germany; Denmark; France; and
Canada.
GrainGenes' growth over 1994 and 1995 is demonstrated
through a comparison of some representative data classes from
January, 1994, and January, 1996.
_________________________________________________
Data Class # of Records # of Records
January, 1994 January, 1996
_________________________________________________
Map Data 11 36
Map (Linkage-Groups) 120 350
Locus 1,500 10,900
Probe 2,000 3,800
Polymorphism 80 1,600
Sequence 100 200
Gene 560 1,500
Allele 550 1,000
Germplasm 11,000 16,000
Species 370 1,500
Image 150 1,450
_________________________________________________
The increase in these numbers reflects increases
in the breadth and scope of the types of data going into GrainGenes.
Originally intended to house molecular, genetic, and phenotypic
data from wheat only, it soon became apparent that the wide crossing
ability within the Triticeae and the similarity between different
small grains species also required GrainGenes to include other
crops. Today, GrainGenes' data purview encompasses wheat,
barley, rye, oats, and sugarcane. As these new crops were added,
and as new data come in, additional categorizations and subclassifications
are made to the existing data classes. This continued updating
and expansion of the database in both structure and content are
prerequisite for GrainGenes' viability as a small grains
database.
GrainGenes also has enjoyed significant growth in
the area of user accessibility. Starting as a stand-alone
database available only through local installation on Unix software
called ACEDB, GrainGenes has evolved to encompass five different
presentation formats. The various formats allow for the viewing
of GrainGenes data on almost any computer platform. Internet connectivity
is not a requirement, although it is helpful.
1) GrainGenes ACEDB-via-WWW is a direct
World Wide Web implementation of the core GrainGenes data set,
converted from its native ACEDB format into World Wide Web format.
The database is accessed by users with Internet connectivity and
WWW browsers such as Netscape or Mosaic. Interactive maps, display
of images, and querying of GrainGenes are all available through
this presentation. GrainGenes ACEDB-via-WWW is provided
through the Genome Informatics Group at the National Agricultural
Library in Beltsville, MD, and can be accessed by pointing your
WWW browser at `http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300'.
2) GrainGenes ACEDB, stand-alone, is the native version
of the GrainGenes database and can be accessed remotely by those
with Internet access and X-window capability, or it can be
downloaded by ftp for installation on a local Unix computer. GrainGenes
ACEDB, stand-alone, provides the fullest querying and interactive
display features offered for GrainGenes. To install GrainGenes
ACEDB, stand-alone, ftp the compressed file from `probe.nalusda.gov:/pub/graingenes'
and follow the instructions in the README FILE. To view remotely
on a computer with X-window capability, please contact the
GrainGenes curator, Dave Matthews, at `matthews@greengenes.cit.cornell.edu.'
in order to establish an account.
3) The GrainGenes Gopher also contains the core GrainGenes
data set, using a simple keyword-search interface instead
of the ACEDB software, and a large number of smaller data sets
in addition. Some of the additional data sets are keyword searchable
also, and others are freeform assemblies of textfiles, tables,
and downloadable images. The Gopher is a good access mode for
those who connect to the Internet through a text-only interface,
such as a Unix shell. The GrainGenes Gopher is maintained at Cornell
University and can be accessed by pointing your Gopher client
to host `greengenes.cit.cornell.edu'.
4) The GrainGenes Webserver is the second World Wide
Web implementation of GrainGenes, with links to the GrainGenes
ACEDB-via-WWW implementation and the GrainGenes Gopher.
It also has additional sections designed especially for mappers,
agronomists, and pathologists. The GrainGenes Webserver is stored
at Albany, CA, and can be accessed by pointing your WWW browser
at `http://wheat.pw.usda.gov'.
'.
5) A CD-ROM version of the database is available
and can be viewed through NCSA Mosaic, which comes with the database
on the CD-ROM. This presentation is intended for those without
Internet access. The CD-ROM version can be requested from
the Plant Genome Data and Information Center at the National Agricultural
Library by writing to:
Plant Genome Data and Information
Center National Agricultural Library
4th Floor
10301 Baltimore Blvd.
Beltsville, MD 20705-1513
or you can send your request via email to `pgenome@nalusda.gov'.
Although all presentation formats include the core
GrainGenes dataset (data found in GrainGenes ACEDB), additional
information specific to particular presentation formats also exists.
For example, data for all of the other Plant Genome databases
also is found on the CD-ROM and on the same Web page as GrainGenes
ACEDB-via-WWW. The GrainGenes Webserver contains some
of the Gopher data sets reformatted with hypertext links not possible
in the Gopher protocol and links to other World Wide Web servers
of grains-related data and USDA/ARS/NAL informational resources.
GrainGenes continues to attain popularity in regions
outside of North America as Internet and World Wide Web access
becomes more widespread. Access logs from GrainGenes show connections
from at least 30 countries and six continents. For users in Europe,
Africa, and parts of Asia, Internet connection times may be quite
slow as data are directed from North America through networks
of varying bandwidths. For this reason, a mirror site for GrainGenes
is being established in Jouy-en-Josas, France, sponsored
by INRA and the French Triticeae Mapping Initiative, thanks to
the efforts of Philippe Leroy. This mirror site will house copies
of the GrainGenes Gopher, both World Wide Web implementations
of GrainGenes, and the stand-alone version GrainGenes ACEDB. The
mirror site should considerably reduce connection times in many
parts of the world and is functional as of June, 1996.
We invite all researchers who are interested in the
small grains to use and/or contribute to GrainGenes. We also invite
feedback about any and all aspects of GrainGenes from our users.
We strive to make GrainGenes as accessible and user-friendly
as possible and will attempt to accommodate all reasonable requests.
If you are unable to find data you believe should be in GrainGenes,
please contact us. Other users may have similar troubles, and
we may need to organize the information in a more intuitive way.
For more information, or for any questions, please contact:
David Matthews: matthews@greengenes.cit.cornell.edu.
Department of Biometry and Plant Breeding
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
(607) 255-9951
Jon Wong: jwong@pw.usda.gov
USDA-ARS, WRRC
800 Buchanan Street
Albany, CA 94710 USA
(510) 559-5640
Olin Anderson: oandersn@pw.usda.gov.
USDA-ARS, WRRC
800 Buchanan Street
Albany, CA 94710 USA
(510) 559-5773