Newsletter March 00
These newsletters are distributed to a mainly domestic mailing list of individuals who expressed an interest in the subjects, which interest Dag Lindgren. An URL address to this Newsletter is: www-genfys.slu.se/staff/dagl/Papers/Newsletters/Newsletter_March00.htm It is probably nicer formatted there than in this mail.
Plant breeding course
The 26th Nordic/Baltic Postgraduate Course in Plant Breeding took place at Reykholt, Iceland, March 2000.
The theme was "Breeding for Marginal Environments".
I advice research students in Forest Genetics to be active participants in those courses once. Active forest genetic scientists or tree breeders are encouraged to be passive participants around each decade to keep in touch with agricultural crop breeding, horticulture breeding and to meet some new people in forest tree breeding. I myself was an active student in the first course January 1975 in Uppsala, it has been an uninterrupted series since when. The format has not changed much in 26 years. This time I participated as teacher. So we now have a long tradition to build on.
Next course is planned in Latvia, Feb 2001 with Isaak Rashal (Izaks@email.lubi.edu.lv) as responsible. Interested research students could contact him if they do not get information in other ways before June 2001. The course 2002 is planned to be in Sweden and I may have an input in the arrangements, so if anyone want to express an opinion, please contact me.
After-effects
There has been a discussion if clues to after-effects and their possible importance could be found in the results from ordinary progeny-tests. Those tests ought to include more or less comparable material produced in different environments. The discussion seemed to end in that compiling easily available figures ("avelsrapporterna") would probably give rather few comparisons and those would be severely confounded with other factors (G*E, SCA, maternal effects, different "standards"). But more thorough analyses of the progeny-tests, like evaluation of the interaction between seed maturation year and field performance, may perhaps give useful information. I encourage people analysing routine progeny-tests to give some thought to the possibilities.
A clonal meeting is announced at
http://members.tripod.com/clone_2000/
Modelling and experimental research on genetic processes in tropical
and temperate Forests
Positions announced
There are several positions in (molecular) evolutionary genetics or conservation genetics in Uppsala announced at
http://www.ebc.uu.se/evbiol/Positions/positions.shtml
How to index gender in gene pools?
I raised this issue in my "Happy New Millennium letter" and there are reasons to make some remarks because of later events. I wrote: " If Billy Gates worked for humanity instead of his profit, we would be able to use the Roman symbols for Mars and Venus (G and E , also symbols for iron and copper), they can hardly be misunderstood. But because of shortcomings of our electronic tools, that would be inconvenient. What could easily be done with the technique used some millennia ago is now unpractical, the modern technique is less flexible." I note that Billy Gates has resigned soon after the criticism I raised against him, but I sincerely doubt there is a connection. But in the second part of the paragraph I was ghostly right. In Forest genetics 6:194-195 published after my previous newsletter, Kang and I tried to use "Mars and Venus", but got the symbols mixed up due to computering problems (when translating from MSWord to WordPerfect). Punishment for reviving the old gods or what?
"Which DNA Marker for Which Purpose?"
http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/y/1999/whichmarker/index.htm
Final Compendium of the Research Project "Development, optimisation and validation of molecular tools for assessment of biodiversity in forest trees" in the European Union DGXII Biotechnology FW IV Research Programme "Molecular Tools for Biodiversity", E.M. Gillet (ed.), 1999.
The entire book is available from the menu bar of the above site under the new button "Download (1.4 MB)" as the file "whichmarker.zip", or directly as the URL http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/y/1999/whichmarker/whichmarker.zip.
The downloaded file "whichmarker.zip" is a WinZipped collection of pdf files. After downloading, "whichmarker.zip" is unzipped using the WinZip software (free download at http://www.winzip.com). Each pdf file can then be read and printed using the Acrobat Reader (free download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html).
Professorship of Genetics at department of forest genetics in Uppsala
the position was announced at http://pallas.adm.slu.se/ledans/ledans-m.htm.
The position attracted 10 applicants. Four of them were not living in Sweden and only two applicants had Swedish as mother tongue.
Genetik och Politik
Bengt Olle Bengtsons "Genetik och Politik" är läsvärd för genetiker i allmänhet och dessutom står det lite om den svenska skogsträdsförädlingens grundare, Nilsson-Ehle.
Post-graduated education
The doctoral education at our faculty is described at
http://www.ssko.slu.se/studier/default.html
In particular I focus attention on the 1999 year statistics at
http://www.ssko.slu.se/studier/statistik.html
a "manual" in English is found at
http://www-foutb.jltfak.slu.se/manual.htm
Plant production statistics
The National Board of Forestry publishes nowadays Swedish plant production statistics. 1998 339 million plants were delivered: 41% pine; 55% spruce; 3% other conifers and 1% deciduous trees.
Vem skapar något?
Jag lästa i Skog&Virke en artikel av Karl-Erik Olsson (EU-parlamentariker)
"Vi människor skapar väldigt lite... Den enda reala produktion som förekommer är den som sker i de gröna växterna där biomassa byggs upp med hjälp av solenergi".
Min reflektion: Det finns ett mycket litet undantag till "vi människor", det är "vi skogsträdsförädlare", som i högsta grad hjälper upp den reala produktionen i de växter som dominerar biomassauppbyggnaden på Sveriges areal.
An interesting link to forest genetic council documents in British Columbia at
http://www.fgcouncil.bc.ca/framdocs.htm
I found it well worth studying from several points of view.
Åke Gustafsson's reprint library
There is a reprint library at floor three below genetics corridor in Umeå. It comprises 40000 reprints with a card system. It was moved to Umeå from Stockholm 1978. It is stored in brown boxes on shelfs with numbers on the back. It is articles from 1977 and earlier concerned with forest genetics and mutations. I now see it as mainly of historic interest. We can give it to anyone who has an interest. From July 1 anyone can take reprints from there and we will through it away unless somebody in response to this message ask for it.
Omloppstid
Jag fick en kommentar från Bengt om min argumentering för att minska omloppstiden. "en stor del av råvaran tas ut i gallring (ca 1/3 av volymen) och ett effektivt sätt att förkorta omloppstiden kan vara att öka gallringsuttagen."
Text book in Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding
Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding/edited by A.K. Mandal and G.L. Gibson. 1998, 268 p., $48 (Free airmail delivery). ISBN 81-239-0571-8.
Contents: Preface. 1. Principles and techniques of selection in tree breeding/C.R. McKinley, North Carolina State University and J.P. van Buijtenen, Texas A & M
University, USA. 2. Provenance research : the concept, application and achievement/W.E. Ladrach, Zobel Forestry Associates, USA. 3. Systematic tree
breeding/Hyun Kang and Martin Lascoux, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA and Urban Gullberg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden. 4.
Forestry mating designs and progeny testing : principles, methods and application/G.O. Otegbeye, Savanna Forestry Research Station, Nigeria. 5. Hybrids in forest
tree improvement/D.K. Khurana and P.K. Khosla, Y.S. Parmar University, India. 6. Seed orchards and their genetics/Y.A. El-Kassaby, University of British
Columbia, Canada and G.R. Askew, Clemson University, USA. 7. Genetics and breeding of wood/J.P. van Buijtenen, Texas A & M University and B.J. Zobel,
Zobei Forestry Associates, USA. 8. Clonal forestry/Y.S. Park and J.M. Bonga, Canadian Forest Services and T.J. Mullin, Genesis Forest Science Canada Inc.,
Canada. 9. Chromosomes, chromosomal techniques and chromosomal evolution in trees/B.S. Gill and V.K. Singhal, Punjabi University, India. 10. Reproductive
biology of tropical tree species/A. Radhamani, A. Nicodemus and B. Nagarajan, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding and A.K. Mandal, Tropical Forest
Research Institute, India. 11. Fruit and seed set in tropical trees : evolutionary constraints and proximate mechanisms/K.N. Ganeshaiah and R. Uma Shaanker,
University of Agricultural Sciences, India. 12. Isozymes : techniques, interpretation and application to forest genetics/Y.A. El-Kassaby, University of British
Columbia and K. Ritland, University of Toronto, Canada. 13. Isozymes in forest genetics research, F. Bergmann and H.H. Hattemer, Abteilung Forstgenetik und
Forstpflanzenzuchtung der George, Germany. 14. Allozymes in tree breeding research/J.B. Mitton, University of Colorado, USA. 15. Biotechnology in forest tree
improvement/D.F. Karnosky, G.K. Podila and V.L.C. Chiang, Michigan Technological University, USA, D. E. Riemenschneider, Forest Science Laboratory, USA
and D. Shin, Hyosung Women's University, Korea.
This book is available without prepayment from:
Vedams Books International
12A/11, W.E.Area, Post Box 2674
New Delhi 110 005, India
Fax: 91-11-574 5114
e-mail: vedams@vedamsbooks.com