International Wheat Quality Conference-II.
J.L. Steele and O.K. Chung.
The Second International Wheat Quality Conference (IWQC-II) is scheduled for 20-24 May, 2001, in Manhattan, KS, USA. The Conference is being organized by the USDA-ARS Grain Marketing and Production Research Center, Kansas State University, the American Institute of Baking, and the Grain Industry Alliance. Conference endorsements by the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC), the Manhattan Section of AACC, the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC), and the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) are being sought. Endorsement by other institutions or professional organizations will be solicited and noted as supporting organizations. Industry support and input in planning the Conference are especially sought. Financial contributors will be recognized appropriately as sponsoring organizations. IWQC-II is projected to have many similarities to IWQC-I, which was held in May 1997. The Proceedings of IWQC-I will provide a substantial insight into what is projected for IWQC-II. Similarities are projected for location, time of year, organizational committees, plenary session programming, International and USA session cochairs, invited speakers, keynote speakers, poster papers, full-length speaker papers, and poster paper abstracts for the Proceedings of IWQC-II.
Please note that the URL for IWQC-II is http://www.usgmrl.ksu.edu/iwqc-ii/. This web site is under construction but will be periodically updated to include new information similar to that provided for IWQC-I. When it is implemented, you will be able to get on the IWQC-II mailing list, make suggestions, and register for the conference via the web page. Watch for early-bird, reduced, registration fees for IWQC-II beginning about November 2000.
Dr. Okkyung Kim Chung and Dr. James L. Steele are Conference Cochairs for IWQC-II. For further information, please E-mail Okkyung Kim Chung at okchung@usgmrl.ksu.edu or James L. Steele at jsteele@usgmrl.ksu.edu.
9th International Symposium on Pre-Harvest Sprouting in Cereals.
The 9th International Symposium on Pre-Harvest Sprouting in Cereals will be held at the Berg-en Dal Camp, Kruger National Park, South Africa, on 24-28 June, 2001. The organizer is Dr. Andrew Cairns, Crop Science, School of Agricultural Sciences and Agribusiness, University of Natal, P.O. Box X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa (E-mail: Cairns@Agron.unp.ac.za). The web site for preregistration is: http://www.nu.ac.za/department/default.asp?dept=cropunp. M.K. Walker-Simmons is the U.S. representative on the International Organizing Committee.
Call to support an English translation of the 1979 Russian taxonomic monograph of Triticum by Dorofeev et al.
Laura A. Morrison 1, Iva Faberová 2, Anna Filatenko 3, Karl Hammer 4, Helmut Knüpffer 5, Alexei Morgounov 6, and Sanjaya Rajaram7.
1 Department of Crop & Soil Science, Oregon State University,
Corvallis, OR 97331-3002, USA.
2 Genebank, Research Institute of Crop Production, Drnovská
507, CZ-161 06 Prague, Czech Republic.
3 13-Linija 12, kv. 7, St. Petersburg 199 034, Russian Federation.
4 Universität Gesamthochschule Kassel, Steinstraße
11, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
5 Genebank, Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
(IPK), D-06466 Gatersleben, Germany.
6 CIMMYT, P.O. Box 374, Almaty 480000, Kazakhstan.
7 CIMMYT, Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
Although wheat researchers are familiar with the existence of the Russian monograph of Triticum L. (Dorofeev et al. 1979), this important taxonomic work is unavailable to the majority of them because of the language barrier. Acceptance also has been problematic, because the monograph follows a traditional treatment concept that recognizes all morphological forms of wild and domesticated wheats and excludes the wild species of Aegilops L. This taxonomic approach had already fallen out of favor by the time of its publication in 1979. Thus, Dorofeev et al. has remained in relative obscurity under the dominating influence of the genetic concept of the wheat complex as embodied in the treatments of Morris and Sears (1967), Kimber and Sears (1987), and Kimber and Feldman (1987).
Taxonomy is usually a minor concern for wheat geneticists. However, it promises to play a significant role in the protection of germ plasm diversity and intellectual property rights, issues of growing importance in the developing research arena, and commercial markets of biotechnology. By virtue of its detailed morphological classification, Dorofeev et al. has direct application to all aspects of biodiversity research, i.e., preservation, cataloguing, and utilization. This monograph provides the only comprehensive worldwide catalogue of all known infraspecific taxa of domesticated and wild wheat species and is the culmination of a significant scientific effort that dates back to the time of Vavilov's leadership of the systematic wheat research in Russia. Dorofeev et al. can serve as an authoritative reference for both identifying distinct forms of wild and domesticated wheats and challenging the validity of proprietary claims on wheat genes and genetic lines that rightfully belong within the public domain.
The scientific value of Dorofeev et al. should not be underestimated. To produce such a taxonomic monograph de novo would be extremely difficult in the current research-funding climate. Additionally, the combined knowledge and expertise of its authors cannot now be reproduced. An English version would open a wealth of information to botanists, plant breeders, geneticists, genebank managers, and others in the wheat research community. The 25 species and 1,242 infraspecific taxa described in Dorofeev et al. are fully catalogued with botanical descriptions, taxonomic keys, geographic distribution, disease traits, origin, and history. In nomenclature, Dorofeev et al. is unique among the modern taxonomic treatments of Triticum for its detailed synonymy and comprehensive compilation of names; over 3,000 names for the wheats are listed in the index.
This project evolved from informal discussions that took place in July, 1999, during the Percival Symposium (Wheat - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; University of Reading, UK). Our goal is to finance a quality translation that will be published at an affordable price. Any profits made from an English version of Dorofeev et al. will go into a fund for translation of other significant Russian scientific publications dealing with wheat. In February 2000, permission to proceed with the English translation was obtained from the Vavilov Institute (VIR, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation), the holder of the copyright to the Russian edition of Dorofeev et al. A translator has been identified, and various options for publication currently are being explored.
CIMMYT recently pledged $ 5,000 to the project fund established to finance the translation and publication. We are posting this announcement to alert the research community of the need for this English translation and to request donations to the project fund. A minimum of $ 5,000 in matching funds will be required to support the costs of translation and publication. Individuals and research entities wishing to help with meeting this funding goal should contact Laura Morrison at the above address for instructions on submitting donations. All contributions will be acknowledged in the published translation.
References.