PNL Volume 18 1986 PREFACE & COVER

The financial report for the period 4/1/85-3/31/86:

Balance, 4/1/85

$1069.08

Dues collected

$1467.00

Financial

report

Expenditures

Postage

Publishing costs

Bank charges

Bookkeeping

Typing

Total expenditures

135.72

393.51

28.39

154.00

721.00

1632.62

Balance, 3/31/86

$ 903.46

G. A. Marx

for the Coordinating Committee:

S. Blixt

W. Gottschalk

E. Gritton

G.A. Marx

L. Monti

I. Murfet

B. Sharma

B. Snoad

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COVER

R. H. Lock, whose likeness is depicted on the cover, made

several important early contributions to the genetic literature

of Pisum. Born and educated in England, Dr. Lock spent his most

productive scientific years in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) at the

Royal Botanic Garden, Peradenyia. He died at an earlv age (36)

but not before be published about twenty papers (four of which

are relevant to pea genetics) and two books. His book, "Recent

Progress In the Study of Variation, Heredity and Evolution",

first published in 1906, endured through four editions. Because

he received his graduate training during those extraordinary days

when Mendel's work was rediscovered, and because he enjoyed the

confidence and encouragement of William Rateson, Lock undertook

to confirm and extend Mendel's findings. This he did with con-

summate success. His 1908 paper, "The present state of knowledge

of heredity in Pisum", summarises what was known about the sub-

ject at the time. Incidentally, many of the populations analyzed

by Lock came from crosses made by Batesou, thus emphasising the

close tie between these two pioneerinc workers. Tn his work with

peas Lock not only confirmed the work of Mendel but also

demonstrated the phenomenon of epistasis, added a number of new

genes to the original seven described by Mendel, and commented

upon the question of species and phylogenetic relationships.

Moreover, he was the first to use descriptive symbols for

Mendelian genes.

(The drawing was executed by Elaine Gotham from a photo found in

the archives of the John Innes Institute and kindly furnished by

Dr. Peter Matthews.)

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PNI. Volume 18

1986

PREFACE

Membership

The Pisum Genetics Association (PGA) is a non-profit,

unincorporated organization established to facilitate the

exchange of information and to ensure the preservation of

valuable genetic stocks. The number of PGA members now

stands at 190.

Membership in the PGA is open to all interested persons.

Dues are $10.00 for two years (U.S. currency) and are used to

help defray the costs of publishing the Pisum Newsletter

(PNL). Members are encouraged to pay dues for two or more

years to simplify bookkeeping. Please make prime banker's

checks or International money orders payable to PISUM

GENETICS ASSOCIATION and send to G. A. Marx, Department of

Horticultural Sciences, New York State Agricultural

Experiment Station, Geneva, NY 14456 USA. The PNL will be

sent upon receipt of dues.

A word about our financial condition. We continue to

hang on, thanks to the recent increase in dues, to another

gift from the National Pea Improvement Association (NPIA),

and to member cooperation. The NPIA Increased its contribu-

tion from $2 50 per year to $300 and we are most grateful for

its continuing support. Our financial status Is such that we

cannot carry out our plans to reprint the volumes which are

now out-of-print; sheer survival must take priority.

Thanks to everyone for your concern and help.

Speaking of cooperation, I wish belatedly to take note

of a fine example of international cooperation which in

recent years has resulted in the availability of two books on

pea genetics and breeding written by Russian authors. The

books, "The Pea" by R. Kh. Makasheva (1973) and "Genetics and

Breeding of Peas" edited by V. V. Khvostova (1975), were

translated into English f rom the original Russian by Dr. B.

R. Sharma of India and the project was commissioned and

financed by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The trans-

lated versions became available in 1983. I might add that

Dr. Sharma did an admirable job of translating the texts.

Also, we owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Jack P. Meiners,

formerly with the USDA and now retired, for making many of

the original arrangements that led to the final result. My

files Indicate that our correspondence concerning this

project began in 1977. Let us hope the lines of communica-

tion between scientists in all parts of the world will not

only continue but will expand.

We again extend our thanks to Mrs. Frances Van Kirk, our

clerk, treasurer, executive secretary, and all around fac-

totum for again doing all the things she has done so well in

years past.

This year, thanks to the generous cooperation of Mary

Lou Marx and Charlotte S. Pratt, we have endeavored to mini-

mize the number of typographical and other kinds of errors.

Each independently examined the entire volume line by line

prior to printing. We gratefully acknowledge their assistance

PGA

situation

update

Editorial

Bouquets