Pisum Genetics Association PISUM GENETICS

 

Published by PGA since 1969

Volume 30, 1998

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blixt.gif (74139 bytes)Stig Blixt elected life member of the Pisum Genetics Association

Congratulations to Dr Stig Blixt on his election as the first Life Member of the PisumGenetics Association. This award recognises his immense contribution to the world of pea genetics, the work of the Pisum Genetics Association and, in particular, to the preservation of valuable genetic stocks. Stig Blixt has been a member of the Coordinating Committee since the beginning of the PGA in 1969. He served as secretary to the original seven-member committee under the chairmanship of Dr G.A. Marx. Soon, however, he took on the task of coordinating gene symbols and preserving key germplasm, roles he fulfilled in an exemplary manner for over two decades.

Stig left school at the age of 15. His work on pea genetics began in 1946 after he joined the staff of the Weibullsholm Plant Breeding Institute at Landskrona as a laboratory assistant. Although lacking formal university training, he flourished in the company of learned colleagues and his innate ability was soon revealed in a string of publications, many with S. Blixt as sole author. These publications continued through the 1960’s and eventually it was suggested by Ake Gustafsson, the professor of genetics at the University of Lund, that it was time he prepared a doctoral dissertation. He was duly awarded an earned (not honorary) doctorate but not before special permission had been obtained from the His Majesty the King of Sweden to confer an earned doctorate on a candidate without a primary degree. As testimony to the merits and lasting value of that thesis (published as Agri Hort. Genet. 30:1-293, 1972), to this day a copy sits within arm’s length of my desk where it can be consulted at a moments notice.

Stig Blixt very quickly saw the importance of building and maintaining a base collection of pea germplasm and he must have been among the early leaders in using the power of a computer for storage and accessing of information on genetic stocks. With generous and strong support from the Weibull family and the head of the institute he was able to build on the Weibullsholm pea collection and develop an extensive computerised database on the traits and origin of each line. In the days of the Iron Curtain, we must rejoice that he was able to bridge the gap between East and West and during this time many valuable lines from both zones were added to the collection. In addition, his own work on mutagenesis added extensively to the range of germplasm available in the collection. Many of the lines added during this period continue to prove of immense value, for example in research studies using a mutant-based approach to understand the control of plant development.

Gene symbols tend to fall readily into disarray. “The gene symbols of Pisum” published by Blixt in PNL9 Supplement 2-59 (1977) represents a very substantial effort and a significant piece of work in creating order and laying the foundations of our present situation. It dealt with key status issues such as valid, invalid, synonym and extinct, and stressed the importance of appointing and maintaining type lines and conducting allelism tests before publishing new symbols.

Pea research ended at Weibullsholm in 1986 but by this time Stig had ensured the pea collection had been safely transferred to the Nordic Gene Bank at Alnarp. Subsequently, Stig joined the staff at the NGB first as Head of the Materials Department in 1988 and later as Director from 1990 until his retirement at the end of 1995. In the early 90’s the active pea collection was moved to the John Innes Institute, Norwich, under the care of the present PGA Symbols Coordinator and Germplasm Curator, Mike Ambrose. However, a base collection is still held in storage at the Nordic Gene Bank. Last year, Stig transferred the Wang-computer database on peas to a PC-background. Access is available through Marten Hulden at the NGB.

Heartfelt congratulations and thanks to Stig on behalf of all PGA members and best wishes for a long and happy retirement where you have time to enjoy your family and your many interests including a beautiful garden that includes a diverse collection of Swedish native flora.

Ian C. Murfet


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page           

PGA notes.................................................................................................................iii

Special Feature

A consensus linkage map for Pisum sativum
N.F. Weeden, T.H.N. Ellis, G.M. Timmerman-Vaughan,
W.K. Swiecicki, S.M. Rozov and V.A. Berdnikov..........................................................1

 

Research Papers

Interactions between common root rot (Aphanomyces euteiches)
and peas (Pisum sativum) in northern Sweden

L.G. Engqvist................................................................................................................5

Mapping the locus coch
F.L. Gorel, S.M. Rozov and V.A. Berdnikov....................................................................9

Evidence for the linkage sequence st . . . b . . . Np . . . le
I.C. Murfet and T.H.N. Ellis..........................................................................................12

Viability of pea seeds in storage
C. Nozzolillo and F. Lorenzetti......................................................................................15

A new locus in the r – tl region of linkage group V
W.K. Swiecicki............................................................................................................22

A new gene for precocious yellowing on linkage group I
W.K. Swiecicki and L. Irzykowska...............................................................................24

The age mutation maps to a region of linkage group IV currently devoid
of convenient morphological markers

N.F. Weeden, K. Morrell and W.E. Boone....................................................................25

 

Brief Communications

A new symbiotic pea mutant
K.K. Sidorova, E.Y. Vlasova, T.M. Mischenko and V.K. Shumny................................27

Another source of the sym2 mutant determining resistance to nodulation
with European strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae
V.E. Tsyganov, A.Y. Borisov and I.A. Tikhonovich.....................................................28

Additional observations concerning the obscuratum phenotype
N.F. Weeden and M. Wavrick.....................................................................................29

Pea mutants K5, K24, Fn1 and nod3 induced in cv. Rondo are not able to
form arbuscular endomycorrhiza. Mutant K24 is not an allele of sym19

L.M. Yacobi, V.A. Voroshilova, V.E. Tsyganov,
A.Y. Borisov and I.A. Tikhonovich.............................................................................30

 

Forum

On loci, alleles and gene nomenclature
N.F. Weeden.............................................................................................................31

Availability of seed from breeding lines containing genes for resistance to
powdery mildew, fusarium wilt 1 and 2, and at least nine virus diseases

N.F. Weeden.............................................................................................................33

 

Retirement

Earl T. Gritton retires from PGA................................................................................34


Pisum Genetics Volume 30 (1998)
ISSN 1320-2510
Editor: N.F. Weeden
Published by the Pisum Genetics Association.
Printed at the New York State Agricultural
Experimental Station
Cornell University, Geneva, New York, USA


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