GrainTax Synonymy Tables Project: June 1999 progress report.

L.A. Morrison (Herbarium, Department of Botany & Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2902, USA.) and W.J. Raupp.

This progress report presents the accomplishments to date for the GrainTax Synonymy Project, which was initiated on the recommendation of participants in the Taxonomy Workshop held at the 9th International Wheat Genetics Symposium (27 August, 1998) in Saskatoon, Canada (see Appendix below). The project now underway is developing an interactive database system that will contain synonymy and classification tables of all modern taxonomic treatments of the wheats from 1921 to the present. Consistent with the recommendations of the Taxonomy Workshop, this report is being published concurrently in the June 1999 issue of the Annual Wheat Newsletter and also will be posted on the GrainTax website (http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/GrainTax).

Classification tables. Tables for all current and relevant historical classifications of the wheats are now under construction on the Kansas State University Wheat Genetic Resources Center (WGRC) web site (http://www.ksu.edu/wgrc/Germplasm/Taxonomy). As each classification is prepared for the WGRC site, it is reviewed for errors in species names and authority citations. Additional notations have been made where species names are illegitimate, invalid, or ambiguous according to the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN, Greuter et al. 1994). As of this writing, tables for 24 classifications have been constructed. Eleven of these classifications are historical; the other 13 are current treatments followed variously by genebanks, researchers, and botanists.

Although it was the original intention of the GrainTax synonymy project to limit the classification tables to only 12 treatments (see Appendix), this task has expanded for the following reasons. Names from older taxonomic treatments also are still encountered in modern literature. Historical classifications have value either because they illustrate changing treatment concepts or they laid the foundation for the more current treatments that followed them. All generic concepts are covered by these tables -- the traditional concept of two separate genera, Triticum L. and Aegilops L.; the enlarged concept of one genus, Triticum L. sensu lato; the move of the S-genome species of Aegilops into Triticum; and the genomic concept of many genera defined by distinctive diploid or polyploid genomic combinations.

Classification tables for Triticum include Percvial (1921), Flaksberger (1935), Schiemann (1948), Jakubziner (1958, Bowden (1959), Mac Key (1966, 1988), Morris & Sears (1967), Gandilian (1972), Dorofeev et al. (1979), Löve (1984), the Flora of Turkey (Tan 1985), Kimber & Sears (1987), Kimber & Feldman (1987), and van Slageren (1994). Classification tables for Aegilops include Zhukovsky (1928), Eig (1929), Kihara (1954), Chennaveeraiah (1960), Hammer (1980), Witcombe (1983), Löve (1984), the Flora of Turkey (Davis 1985), and van Slageren (1994). A comparative classification table, organized by genome, contrasts the commonly encountered Triticum and Aegilops treatments of Dorofeev et al. (1979), Hammer (1980), Kimber & Sears (1987), Mac Key (1988), and van Slageren (1994).

Correct Names and Authority Citations. Unfortunately, most of the wheat classifications have nomenclatural errors, spelling mistakes, and incorrect authority citations. Each of the current treatments of Gandilyan (1972) Dorofeev et al. (1979), Hammer (1980), Witcombe (1983), Löve (1984), Flora of Turkey (1985), Kimber & Sears (1987), Kimber & Feldman (1987), Mac Key (1988), and van Slageren (1994) will be presented in a corrected version. When species names are known to be incorrect or misspelled, they will be changed or indicated as such. The historical treatments of Percival (1921), Zhukovsky (1928), Eig (1929), Flaksberger (1935), Kihara (1954), Schiemann (1948), Jakubziner (1958), Bowden (1959), Chennaveeraiah (1960), Mac Key (1966), and Morris & Sears (1967) will be left in their original form except for corrections of authority citations and notations of invalid, illegitimate, and ambiguous names.

In the case of authority citations, the spelling and abbreviation of the names of authorities will follow Brummitt & Powell (1992), the publication that sets the current standard throughout the international botanical community. A table of authorities, including names and abbreviations found in wheat taxonomy, also is available on the WGRC web site. A table of nomenclatural errors lists names known to be invalid (names not effectively published according to the ICBN), illegitimate (names incorrectly applied according to the ICBN), or ambiguous(names that are in doubt because the associated type specimen is ambiguous). An orphan names table will list names, typically for domesticated forms, which have been dropped or are not treated in most current classifications due to changing treatment concepts.

Internet access. The classification and synonymy tables are formatted for direct viewing or downloading and are accessible directly on the WGRC site or by link from the GrainTax site. GrainTax, which is located on GrainGenes (http://wheat.pw.usda.gov), was established to serve the project. In addition to the link to the WGRC site, GrainTax contains a bulletin board for postings and a mailgroup (to join, contact Dave Matthews, matthews@greengenes.cit.cornell.edu). This internet compilation of all the current and historical classifications provides a central location where names and treatment concepts of the wheats can be viewed and checked. The tables are an authoritative source for verifying correct taxonomic usage. The availability over the internet will hopefully encourage a more consistent usage of taxonomic names in all aspects of wheat research.

Project status. All 24 classification tables are now available for use, although users are advised that several tables may not yet be in their fully corrected forms. For the next step, a cross-referencing system with two different components will be developed, (1) linking names to classifications and (2) linking a name to all of its synonyms. Projected operation for these components is in early 2000.

Postings concerning the project will appear on the GrainTax web site and will be emailed to subscribers to the GrainTax mailgroup. Written or E-mail comments on the operation and design of the classification and synonymy tables are invited from the wheat research community.

References.

Bowden WM. 1959. The taxonomy and nomenclature of the wheats, barleys, and ryes and their wild relatives. Can J Bot 37:657-684.

Brummit RK and Powell CE (eds). 1992. Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England.

Chennaveeraiah MA. 1960. Karyomorphologic and cytotaxonomic studies in Aegilops. Acta Horti Gotoburgensis 23(4):85-178.

Davis PH. 1985. 13. Aegilops L. In: Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands (Davis PH ed). University Press, Edinburgh ,Scotland. 9:232-245.

Dorofeev VF, Filatenko AA, Migushova EF, Udaczin RA, and Jakubziner MM. 1979. Wheat. In: Flora of Cultivated Plants (Dorofeev VF and Korovina ON eds). Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Kolos 1:346 pp (in Russian).

Eig A. 1929a. Monographisch-Kritische Übersicht der Gattung Aegilops. Feddes Repert, Beih 55:1-228 (in German).

Eig A. 1929b. Amblyopyrum Eig. A new genus separated from the genus Aegilops. PZE Inst Agric Nat Hist Agr Rec 2:199-204.
Flaksburger CA. 1935. Cereals: Wheat. In: Flora of Cultivated Plants I (Wulf EW ed). Cos Izd Kolkh Sovkh, Moscow and Leningrad [St Petersburg] (in Russian].

Gandilian PA. 1972. On the wild-growing species of Triticum of the Armenian SSR. Bot Zhurn 57:173-181 [in Russian].

Greuter W et al. (eds). 1994. International code of botanical nomenclature (Tokyo Code) adopted by the Fifteenth International Botanical Congress, Yokohama, AugustSeptember 1993. Regnum Veg 131.

Hammer K. 1980. Vorarbeiten zur monograhischen Darstellung von Wildpflanzensortimenten: Aegilops L.Kulturpflanze 28:33-180 [in German].

Jakubziner MM. 1958. New wheat species. In: Proc First Inter Wheat Genet Symp. Winnipeg, Canada. pp. 207-220.

Kihara H. 1954. Considerations on the evolution and distribution of Aegilops species based on the analyser- method. Cytologia 19:336-357.

Kimber G and Feldman M. 1987. Wild wheat: an introduction. Spec Rpt 353. Coll Agric, Univ Missouri, Columbia.

Kimber G and Sears ER. 1987. Evolution in the genus Triticum and the origin of cultivated wheat. In: Wheat and Wheat Improvement, 2nd ed (Heyne EG ed). Am Soc Agron, Madison, WI. Pp. 154-164.

Löve Á. 1984. Conspectus of the Triticeae. Feddes Repert 95:425-521.

Mac Key J. 1966. Species relationships in the Triticum. Hereditas Suppl 2:237-276.

Mac Key J. 1975. The boundaries and subdivision of the genus Triticum. In: 12th Inter Bot Congr. Lenningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia. Oral presentation, unpublished manuscript provided by author.

Mac Key J. 1988. A plant breeder's perspective on taxonomy of cultivated plants. Bio Zentralbl 107:369-379.

Morris R and Sears ER. 1967. The cytogenetics of wheat and its relatives. In: Wheat and Wheat Improvement (Quisenberry KS and Reitz LP eds). Am Soc Agron, Madison, WI. Pp. 19-87

Percival J. 1921. The Wheat Plant. Duckworth & Co, London. 463 pp.

Schiemann E. 1948. Weizen, Roggen und Gerste: Systematik, Geschichte und Verwendung. G Fischer Verlag, Jena. 102 pp (in German).

Slageren MW van. 1994. Wild wheats: a monograph of Aegilops L. and Amblyopyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Eig. Wageningen Agric Univ Pap, the Netherlands. 513 pp.

Tan K. 1985. 14. Triticum L. In: The Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands (Davis PH ed). University Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. 9:245-255.

Witcombe JR. 1983. A Guide to the Species of Aegilops L.: Their Taxonomy, Morphology and Distribution. IBPGR (IPGRI), Rome, Italy.
Zhukovsky PM. 1928. A critical systematic survey of the species of the genus Aegilops L. Bull Appl Bot Genet Pl Breed 18:417-609 (in Russian with English summary).


Appendix. The GrainGenes Synonymy Tables Database Project design and goals.

1. The synonymy tables database will have three components that will enable users to associate names with synonyms and names with classifications:

(a) A table listing the species names with authorities (and where relevant, lower ranking taxa at subspecific and botanical varietal levels) will be constructed for each of the 12 principal classifications currently in use. For Triticum: van Slageren (1994), Kimber & Sears/Kimber & Feldman (1987), Flora of Turkey (1985), Löve (1984), Dorofeev & Migushova (1979), and Mac Key (1988). For Aegilops and Amblyopyrum: van Slageren (1994), Flora of Turkey (1985), Witcombe (1983), Hammer (1980), Kihara (1954), and Eig (1929).

(b) Each taxon name in a classification table will link to its synonyms. For example, in the table for the van Slageren classification, the diploid D-genome species Ae. tauschii Coss. will link to its synonyms--Ae. squarrosa L., T. tauschii (Coss.) Schmalh., T. aegilops P. Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult., Patropyrum tauschii (Coss.) Löve.

(c) Each synonym will link to its associated classification(s). Following the above example with Ae. tauschii, its four synonyms will link to their respective classifications--Ae. squarrosa L. [name in the Eig, Kihara, and Witcombe classifications], T. tauschii (Coss.) Schmalh. [name in the Kimber & Sears/Kimber & Feldman classification], T. aegilops P. Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult. [correct name with priority in Triticum sensu lato], Patropyrum tauschii (Coss.) Löve [Löve, 1984].

(d) Each name also will link to itself when treated with the same name in other classifications. For example, Ae. tauschii Coss. in the van Slageren classification table will link to Ae. tauschii Coss. in the tables for the Hammer and Flora of Turkey classifications.

2. Project coordinators include: synonymy table construction--Laura Morrison (Oregon State University) and John Raupp (Kansas State University); GrainGenes database implementation--Dave Matthews and Gerry Lazo (USDAARS); Triticeae taxonomy liaison--Mary Barkworth (Utah State University); wheat genetics liaisons--Giles Waines (University California-Riverside) and Jan Dvorak (University of California-Davis).

3. Notices of the progress and eventual availability of the synonymy tables database will appear in the Wheat Information Service (published January and June) and the Annual Wheat Newsletter (published July).

4. GrainTax, an internet mail group and bulletin board, has been set up as a discussion forum and an information exchange service for issues associated with wheat taxonomy. Notices published in the Wheat Information Service and the Annual Wheat Newsletter also will be posted here.

5. To join the GrainTax mailgroup, contact Dave Matthews, matthews@greengenes.cit.cornell.edu. The GrainTax bulletin board can be reached at http://wheat.pw.usda.gov:8000/cgi-bin/mboard/graintax/list.cgi.