Abstract BIR9403593 The purpose of this project is to maintain and improve a well- established, well-characterized collection of maize mutants that have been produced by treating pollen with the chemical mutagen, ethyl methanesulfonate or other mutagenic agents. Five objectives are proposed: (1) to continue freely sharing this collection, upon request, with all members of the scientific community; (2) to establish a smaller "core: collection of the most interesting stocks that will be maintainable by a single faculty member here at the University of Missouri; (3) to provide those stocks that have been appropriately characterized, including a duplicate of the core collection; (4) to enhance the existing electronic database by more fully characterizing the core collection of mutants, and to incorporate that information into the national Maize Genome Database (Columbia, MO); and (5) to ensure that each mutant is available in a good, well- characterized background with a good, reasonably current seed source.
