Overall coordinator's report
Udda Lundqvist
Svalöf Weibull AB, S-268 81 Svalöv, Sweden.

Since the latest overall coordinator's report, no important changes of the coordinators have taken place. I do hope that most of you will continue with this work and provide us with all information about the chromosomes and linkage groups that is new over the year. Once more, I want to stress that this information is of really great importance for the barley community. On the other hand, I have the impression that the collections of various kinds are not increasing very much any more, and that some coordinators have difficulties in finding or getting information. We are not many barley researchers any more doing research on morphological and classical markers. Many of the elder barley workers are on the way to retire, and it is really important to transmit their knowledge we have collected over the decades to the younger researchers who are working with molecular genetics and using these modern technics. The duties and responsibilities as reported in previous issues are published latest in the issue of BGN 21:11. I would like to remind you to keep attention on these paragraphs. A list of the coordinators with their addresses, FAX numbers, and in some cases E-mail addresses will also be included in the present issue of BGN.

Probably some of you already noticed that Barley Genetics Newsletter Volume 24 has appeared as an electronic version, many of you can read the contents on the screen in your office, so you do not need to carry around all the volumes! Probably the older issues will be entered in the same way.

The Barley Genetic Stock Center has been definitely moved from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, to USDA-ARS, National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility (NSGGRF) in Aberdeen, Idaho, USA. An Hang is in a most commendable way updating the Barley Genetic Stocks, increasing seeds of the stocks, and also including new ones which are missing.

The inquiries and efforts for the incorporation of the Barley Genes and Genetic Stocks into the Triticeae Genome Database "GrainGenes" are being continued. Many of the descriptions on most of the barley genes are in progress to be revised by J.D. Franckowiak, North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA, and by different barley co-workers. These descriptions will be published in a special issue of BGN, hopefully before the VII International Barley Genetics Symposium in late July, 1996. These descriptions are the basic material for entering into "GrainGenes". The first drafts are delivered to D. Matthews, Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y., USA, for entering the text. As every description will be illustated with an image, the first 500 slides have been transferred on CDs. As soon as the text is entered, we will include the photographs. A demonstration of the outfit will probably be shown at the Symposium.

The Bowman back-cross derived lines, developed by J.D. Franckowiak, Fargo, North Dakota, USA, are in progress to be forwarded to the Barley Genetic Stock Center in Aberdeen, Idaho, for increase and incorporation.