Arabidopsis Stock Center--Open for Business

Published in Probe Volume 2(2): Summer 1992

Randy Scholl
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH

Orders for seeds and DNA are now being filled at the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center at Ohio State University.

Five general classes of stocks are available from the Center, as described in the April 1992 Seed and DNA Stock List. Included are (1) mutants, (2) marker lines for genetic mapping, (3) ecotypes, (4) RFLP bacteriophage clones, and (5) RFLP cosmid clones. All are available for immediate shipment.

The Center's current seed stocks should be useful to the Arabidopsis and plant research community. The following examples demonstrate their usefulness:

1. Mutants induced by T-DNA seed transformation, provided by Dr. Kenneth Feldmann of the University of Arizona, are potentially molecularly tagged for a variety of types of genes. The Center currently possesses transformed lines having late flowering, floral morphology, and reduced fertility phenotypes. Other classes of T-DNA induced visible mutants will be received soon.
2. Mutants of many types induced by chemical mutagenesis and radiation, as well as stocks developed for study of linkage on each of the five Arabidopsis chromosomes, are available. These stocks were provided by the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Center; the markers were developed by Dr. Maarten Koornneef and coworkers.
3. A set of recombinant inbred (RI) lines were developed at DuPont Co. by Drs. Robert Reiter and Pablo Scolnik and coworkers. They are expected to be widely used for mapping of DNA markers including RFLP's and RAPD's.

DNA Stocks

The DNA stocks presently available for distribution are collections of clones identifying polymorphisms. These stocks include 70 bacteriophage clones from Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz and colleagues of the California Institute of Technology, and approximately the same number of cosmid clones from Dr. Howard Goodman and coworkers of the Massachusetts General Hospital. More RFLP-associated clones are currently being received.

Included among DNA stocks that will be available in the near future are clone libraries. A set of yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) libraries, developed by Drs. Chris Somerville and Erwin Grill at Michigan State University, will be available for distribution June 1992. The YAC library of Dr. Eric Ward of Ciba/Geigy Corp. should be available July 1992.

At present, the above stocks are being provided to researchers free of charge. Orders are accepted by mail, electronic mail, facsimile, or telephone as follows:

MAIL: The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center at Ohio State University
1735 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210, USA

E-MAIL, Information: arabidopsis+@osu.edu

E-MAIL, Seed Orders: seeds@genesys.cps.msu.edu (Type "stockorder" on the subject line.)

E-MAIL, DNA Orders: dna@genesys.cps.msu.edu (Type "stockorder" on the subject line.)

FAX: 614-292-0603

TELEPHONE: 614-292-9371

TELEPHONE, Seed Inquiries: 614-292-1982 (Randy Scholl)

TELEPHONE, DNA Inquiries: 614-292-2115 (Keith Davis)

The seed and DNA stock list can be obtained by notifying the Center through one of the above means. You may also have your name added to the mailing list.

Future Plans

For the near future, several types of new stocks will be obtained. Included will be pooled populations of T-DNA transformants from Dr. Feldmann, which should be available by June 1992.

Dr. Sakti Pramanik and colleagues at Michigan State University are working to develop an Arabidopsis database, known as the Arabidopsis Information Management System (AIMS). A prototype version of the system should be running shortly so that stocks can be ordered directly through the computer system. This will allow for immediate updates of available stocks as they are added to the list, and will prove especially valuable during this developmental phase when new stocks are added rapidly to the collection.

The Center is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Those of us with the Center are pleased to be able to serve the plant community. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Randy Scholl (Center director and head of the seed laboratory) or Keith Davis (associate director and head of the DNA laboratory).