Cornfests, cornfabs and cooperation: the origins and beginnings of the maize genetics cooperation news letter.

IN the early 1920s, the Maize Genetics Cooperation who granted him funds to support his information and supply network in 1934. The work of Barbara McClin(MGC) began in an informal way among R. A. Emerson and his students. His ethical and cooperative spirit tock in cooperation with Beadle, Rhoades, Creighton, Burnham, and others at Cornell between 1928 and 1934 paved the way for an expanded network of maize researchers who freely shared their materials and unpubresulted in a definitive correlation of chromosomes and linkage groups in maize—ultimately published in 1935 lished research, thus resulting in rapid progress in fundamental genetic research (Coe 2001; Kass and Bonneuil by Emerson et al. The cytogenetics of maize was also reviewed in that year (Rhoades and McClintock 1935). 2004). The first letter summarizing both published and unThe exhibits that Emerson submitted to support his Rockefeller Foundation grant included a historical sumpublished maize linkage data was compiled by Emerson and his student George Beadle and sent to students of mary of the MGC and MNL. These documents allowed us to reconstruct the events that established these immaize genetics on April 12, 1929. This communication was an outcome of a “cornfab” held in Emerson’s hotel portant resources for the maize genetics community. Emerson’s legacy lives on in the cooperative spirit of room in December 1928, during the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) maize researchers and in the News Letter he founded 75 years ago. meetings. The “Historical Notes on Maize Cooperation” identifies Emerson’s 1929 communication as the first At the 1932 ICG held in Ithaca, New York, Rollins Adams Emerson (Nelson 1993), Head of the DepartMaize Genetics Cooperation News Letter (MNL; Emerment of Plant Breeding at Cornell University, gave an son 1940). Beadle was the first secretary of the MGC opening address titled, “The Present Status of Maize and he solicited material for additional summaries of Genetics.” In his introduction he declared, “I cannot linkage data, which were distributed in two parts in refrain from noting here a very real advantage experi1930. Rhoades succeeded Beadle as secretary and conenced by students of maize genetics . . . I am aware of tinued to summarize and publish the reports of cooperano other group of investigators who have so freely tors in the MNL, which continues to be published annushared with each other not only their materials but ally. even their unpublished data. The present status of maize The cooperators met at the Sixth International Congenetics, whatever of noteworthy significance it presents, gress of Genetics (ICG) at Ithaca in 1932 and organized is largely to be credited to this somewhat unique, una committee to establish the maize stock center at Corselfishly cooperative spirit of the considerable group of nell University and to seek funding for their enterprise. students of maize genetics” (Emerson 1932, p. 141; Kass Emerson’s grant application to the National Research 2001). Council (NRC) was denied and he was encouraged to During this Congress, Emerson called a meeting of apply immediately to the Rockefeller Foundation (RF), 45 students of maize genetics and formalized what would soon be called the Maize Genetics Cooperation. Following their meeting Emerson and his graduate stu1Corresponding author: Department of Plant Biology, 228 Plant Scident Marcus Rhoades issued on October 5, 1932, what ence Bldg., Tower Rd., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-5908. E-mail: [email protected] has long been considered the first Maize Genetics Co-