For those working with 'transformation-recalcitrant' species, other species will be available to allow modification and testing of genes and strategies to be used in engineering of the target species. Grass species lacking genetic maps will gain instant access to a set of well characterized and dispersed anchor probes that will not only make mapping their new species more efficient, but will also produce a map that can be directly compared to that of any other mapped grass species. Species with narrow germplasms will have access to the entire array of alleles at a given grass locus, regardless of the species it came from. However, no one at present is likely to fund the tools needed for an all out attack on the grasses as a whole. An internationally funded initiative will have many advantages - it will lend weight to national programs, it will reduce the level of unnecessary and costly duplication and competition and will not compete for funds with commodity programs.
Major requirements are germplasm collections, genome centers, databases and comparative databasing.
All of these are likely to attract co-funding. Other requirements are funding for collaborative efforts to complete the comparative maps, to map mutants to produce the required large insert libraries, to demonstrate micro-colinearity and to begin to use comparative information to unravel pathways. Action now Possible sources will now be researched and tentatively approached by Mike Gale or Jeff Bennetzen. When it becomes necessary to have a wider steering committee the group will be expanded.