| A data base of meiotic analyses in wheat G. KIMBER Department of Agronomy University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, Missouri 65211, U.S.A. The study of the meiosis of hybrids has been used extensively in determining the genomic, taxonomic, and evolutionary relationships of species. In the wheat group this type of work has been conducted on a scale and with a precision unmatched in other genera. The relative simplicity of hybridization, the large and easily stained chromosomes, and the commerical importance of the Triticinae have all led to an extensive bibliography, yet the last listing of the literature and the data of which the author is aware vas in 1954 (Anon.). Concomittant with the advent of computers it has become common practice to store and search data and literature references in various ways. Recently, with the development of microprocessors and their associated peripheral equipment it has become practical to design and maintain small, specialized data banks appropriate to speciflc bibliographic needs. This paper birefly outlines the establishment and operation of such a system in which both meiotic analyses and their related bibliographic references are stored, can be searched in various ways and printed upon request. At the time of writing the data base contains some 658 meiotic analyses and 200 journal references. The data are stored in coded form on mini-floppy magnetic disks. The data can be recovered, formatted and printed with the aid of various specially written programs. Since the data is written upon the disks in random order the addition of new references and meiotic analyses does not affect the sorting process. The meiotic analyses are always printed in the order the sorting program finds them but the references are both alphabetized and placed in chronological order before printing. The meiotic data are stored as a string of numbers and, if necessary, a single line of of remarks in a series of files each of which has up to 12 entries. Each entry is identified by an eight- or nine-symbol alphanumeric code which is stored in a separate file. Each entry in the code file has two letters representing the female parent, two letters for the male parent (one of the parents is always a Triticum according to the 1967 classification of MORRIS and SEARS) and a single number indicating the ploidy level of the hybrid. It is from this combination of four letters and one number that the searches are conducted. The remaining three or four alphanumeric characters of this code are the file name and entry number. To make a search these codes are read and compared to the combination desired. If a match is made the meiotic data are located and printed. A second code (the ref. code) is also read with the meiotic data and is stored in a temporary file. If, at the completion of the search for meiotic data, a request is made to print the references appropriate to the meiotic data already printed then the reference codes are alphabetized, the references are located and are printed. The meiotic data can be associated with the appropriate reference because the ref. code is printed with both. |
| Contribution from the Missouri Agricultural Experiment station. Journal series No. 8400 |
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