PGA Notes

	Pisum Genetics Association Notes The Pisum Genetics Association (PGA) is a non-profit, unincorporated organization established to foster genetic study of the pea, to facilitate the exchange of information and to ensure preservation of valuable genetic stocks. The journal, Pisum Genetics, is the principal means of meeting these aims. Published annually in one issue, Pisum Genetics contains reports of research findings and other information of interest to researchers studying the genus Pisum.
Membership and Dues	Membership in the PGA is open to all interested persons and organizations. Dues are US $15.00 per annum. These dues are used to help defray the costs of publishing and mailing Pisum Genetics. Members are encouraged to pay dues for two or more years to simplify bookkeeping. Members are also requested to send checks or back drafts in US currency only. Such efforts avoid bank charges, which can exceed $10.00 per check in some currencies. Please make checks payable to Pisum Genetics Association and send to Dr. N. F. Weeden, Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. Pisum Genetics will be sent upon receipt of dues. Electronic transfers of funds covering dues or other payments can be made in U.S. dollars through foreign banks with connections in the United States. Please use the routing number 092901683 and the account number 253-2000-722 at First Interstate Bank University Branch, Strand Union Bldg., 1404 S. 6^th Ave., Bozeman, MT 59715, USA. Also please inform the editor by email or other form of communication that such a tranfer is being made so that he can confirm the amount and source of the deposit.
Submission of Manuscripts	All members of the PGA are welcome to submit manuscripts on topics appropriate for Pisum Genetics. In general, a mailing will be sent out to the membership in June of each year calling for manuscript to be submitted for consideration for publication. The deadline for such submittals is usually September 1 of the year of publication, allowing for sufficient time for review and revision of manuscripts. The Coordinating Committee believes Pisum Genetics is an excellent medium for publication of articles on pea. The journal provides opportunities for both refereed and non-refereed manuscripts, publication is within 3 to 6 months of submittal, there are no page charges, and a web-based version is available (thanks to Dr. Serge Rozov) shortly after publication of the hard copy (URL: http://hermes.bionet.nsc.ru/pg/). Hence, your research findings become available to a worldwide audience within months of submission and without a significant impact on your research budget.
Format of Manuscripts	Manuscripts will continue to be accepted and processed in two formats, research papers and brief communications. Manuscripts submitted as research papers will be subjected to peer review and revision or rejection if not of the quality expected by Pisum Genetics. Such research papers should be written concisely, with a short introduction presenting the purpose for the study, a materials and methods section with essential details and references to techniques, a results section and discussion section interpreting the results and integrating findings with those of other workers. Section headings are not obligatory. Length should be kept under five journal pages, but longer papers will be considered on their merits. Such research papers must be treated similarly to submissions to other refereed journals in that they should contain original work not currently submitted to any other journal. This year nearly half of the papers submitted as full manuscripts were declined for one reason or another. The editor believes this percentage is unusually and undesirably high. Authors are requested to please observe the requirements regarding manuscripts submitted for peer review.
Brief Communications	Brief communications are to encourage a rapid sharing of new results that may not meet the standards of a research paper (i.e. allelism tests not completed, map locations only approximate, experiments lacking an appropriate control). Brief communications will not be subjected to peer review, although the editor reserves the right to screen papers for appropriateness and to review submissions for clarity and brevity. Such submissions will be limited to approximately one page and should be narrowly focused. Otherwise, the format of brief communications (tables, references, etc.) should correspond to that of a research paper. Publication of a brief communication in Pisum Genetics should not preclude publication of a full paper on the same subject in a later issue or in another journal.
Editor's Notes	When submitting an electronic copy of a manuscript, please use Microsoft Word when possible. Other formats can be handled, but these will usually be converted to Word for processing. It is also helpful if authors avoid the use of extra formatting in their submissions (headers, sections, complex tabulation, automatic indentation) as these generally have to be eliminated when preparing the manuscript for final printing. We have severe limitations on support staff, and the removal of interfering formatting can occasionally be quite time-consuming.
Corrections	Corrections to the printed volume will generally be handled by an announcement in the PGA notes section of the next volume and a revision of the on-line version at the website in Novosibirsk. In the article by D.E. Saar and N.O. Polans in Vol. 32 (pages 42-45), a footnote to Table 1 was omitted indicating the sources of the pea accessions examined. The editor regrets this omission. Congratulations to Jim Reid on his promotion to Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Tasmania. We wish him the best of success in his new position and hope he can still find time to work on peas.
Conferences	Two new or non-recurring conferences planned for this year may be of interest to the readership. The First International Conference on Legume Genomics and Genetics will be held June 2-6 in St. Paul, Minnesota. More information on this conference can be obtained at http://www.agro.agri.umn.edu/iclgg/. In addition, the International Workshop on Application of the Molecular Markers in Studies on Plants will be held Sept. 25-29 in Warsaw, Poland.
NAPIA Abstracts	Volume 33 contains the abstracts of papers and posters presented at the biennial conference of the North American Pulse Improvement Association (NAPIA). We anticipate that the NAPIA abstracts will continue to be published in Pisum Genetics in addition to those from other conferences (such as those involving peas from the 22^nd EUCARPIA conference on Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses published in Vol. 31) that are of interest to the PGA membership. By including the NAPIA abstracts, we depart from tradition in that we include communications from pulse crops other than pea. With comparative genetics becoming a more important category of scientific study, opening the pages of Pisum Genetics to genetic studies in Lathyrus, Vicia, Lens, and possibly Cicer might prove advantageous for stimulating such comparative work. However, there already exist publications focused on some of these crops, and it is not the intent of the editor or the Coordinating Committee to compete with such publications; however many of the members of the PGA work with more than one pulse crop. The members of the Coordinating Committee would appreciate comments or discussions of where to proceed in this area. The editor would like to thank those individuals who generously donated their time and expertise as referees for manuscripts submitted to this volume of Pisum Genetics. In addition, I greatly appreciate the help of Dr. Bert Vandenberg, who sent electronic copies of the NAPIA abstracts for publication in this issue of Pisum Genetics and Dr. Serge Rozov, who continues to act as our Webmaster. Vols. 29 through 32 of Pisum Genetics can be found on the Web at http://hermes.bionet.nsc.ru/pg/. The editor would also like to acknowledge the very generous contribution of $500.00 from the NAPIA, received in November. Although this contribution does not appear in the current financial report, it is much appreciated and reflects the long-standing support of this association for the PGA.
Financial Report	The financial report for the period October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2001 is presented below. The Pisum Genetics Association continues to be on sound financial footing. No increase in dues or additional infusion of funds is seen as necessary. Hobart balance brought forward (AUD) 9104.58 Income Subscriptions 84.00 Bank interest (net of duties and fees) 135.80 Total income 219.80 Transfer of funds from Hobart to Bozeman: 8846.58 USD 4777.00 at a cost of AUD 8846.58 Expenditure Mailing Total expenditures 8846.58 Hobart balance as at September 30, 2001 477.80 Commonwealth Bank a/c 767102 5002314 477.80 Commonwealth Bank a/c 7104 5001 6807 has been closed. All funds at Hobart are now held in Commonwealth Bank a/c 767102 5002314 Total 477.80 Bozeman balance brought forward (US$) 2075.87 First Interstate Bank, Bozeman, MT (a/c 253-2000-722) Cash on hand 85.29 Total assets at Bozeman, October 1, 2000 2161.16 Income Subscriptions 744.33 Sale of back issues 90.00 Bank interest (excluding Time Certificate deposit) 41.42 Total income 875.75 Transfer of funds from Hobart to Bozeman 4777.00 (Deposited as Time Certificate @ 5.90% interest) Expenditures Mailing 598.55 Printing costs 546.05 Supplies 27.24 Total expenditures 1171.84 Bozeman balance as of September 30, 2001¹ 6642.07 ¹Does not include the approx. $210 intererest accrued on the Time Certificate nor the $500.00 received from the NAPIA (received in November).

N.F. Weeden, for the Coordinating Committee

M. Ambrose

T.H.N. Ellis

O.E. Kosterin

F.J. Muehlbauer

I.C. Murfet

J.B. Reid

S.M. Rozov

W.K. Swiecicki

N.F. Weeden