Gainesville, Florida
The meeting was called to order by C. M. Rick at 7:30 P.M., 8 September 1954 in Room 357 Administration Building, University of Florida.
In view of the necessity of replacing C. F. Andrus on the Coordinating Committee, the chairman called for suggestions from members, at the same time pointed out that the new member would be selected by the present Coordinating Committee. The names of J. M. Walter and W. S. Barbara were suggested.
The chairman reviewed the past activities of TGC, the compilation of a gene list and the completion of rules for gene nomenclature, and called on members of the Coordinating Committee to discuss possible future activities.
L. Butler strongly urged the publication of all linkage and polyhybrid data in the TGC Reports. It was suggested further that tomato linkage groups might be developed more rapidly if stocks of unlocated and tester genes and even F1 and F2 generations be offered to other workers by those who have the material but do not have immediate prospects of carrying out the tests. Such projects would be especially appropriate for masters degree theses since they can be conducted in a short period and give the student an excellent opportunity to demonstrate his research talent.
It was pointed out by Edgar Anderson that tomato populations segregating for seedling characteristics make some of the best genetics teaching material and could be used more widely if made available. Dr. Anderson's ideas in respect to this matter and also the usefulness of tomatoes for studying the behavior of interspecific substitutions of chromosome segments are presented in greater detail as a supplement to these minutes.
In connection with discussion of linkage work, the suggestion was offered (probably by A. B. Burdick) that linkage groups be assigned to specific individuals for testing and expansion. A call for volunteers to assume the responsibility of a linkage group brought up the hands of L. Butler, C. M. Rick and A. B. Burdick. R. W. Richardson indicated that he could do some linkage work but probably could not handle a linkage group alone.
The suggestion that TGC members begin the task of transferring tomato genes to a uniform, standard background was brought up for discussion. The use of Sutton's-Best-of-all or a Red Cherry as background was considered. It was evident that this matter should be referred to the whole membership at a later time.
R. K. Soost asked if the Coordinating Comittee would investigate the means of preserving species collections. C. M. Rick indicated he would discuss this with M. M. Hoover, Coordinator for the North Central Plant Introduction Station.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P. M.
A. B. Burdick
Secretary, Pro Tem.
SUPPLEMENT TO MINUTES OF THE GAINESVILLE MEETING
The Importance of the Tomato in Basic Research
Recent work with maize, cotton and Drosophila has shown the difficulty of discriminating between gene mutation and crossing over. In the last decade studies of introgression in natural populations have demonstrated that most of the variation which looked like the results of mutation are the results of hybridization followed by backcrossing. There is a strong possibility that all mutation may be the primary, secondary and tertiary results of crossing over in introgressive segments of foreign germ plasm.
At the moment the tomato is by far the best material for precise experiments in this field. What is needed is a plant with linkage groups well worked out, which can be crossed with distinct species so that one can bring in and accurately test primary and secondary results of the introduction of one arm or one segment from a foreign germ plasm. The increasing knowledge of the tomato's pachytene cytology increases its effectiveness for such experiments.
The Usefulness of the Tomato as Laboratory Material for Teaching Genetics
Segregating cultures of tomato are among the best possible material for elementary classes in genetics. The tomato is tough and will grow well even in botany greenhouses. Seedling characters make it possible to use small plants which have been pricked off into flats. I feel they would be widely used if they were readily available.
Would it be possible to set someone up in the business of producing good mono-hybrid and di-hybrid demonstrations, much as D. F. Jones did years ago with segregating ears of maize?
Edgar Anderson