A. Report of the Coordinating Committee of Rice Genetics Cooperative

This year was another landmark year in the history of Rice Genetics Cooperative. The Second International Rice Genetics Symposium was held from May 14-18, 1990 at International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines. It brought together 300 rice geneticists from 24 countries. A report of this symposium appears in the following pages. We are happy that a unified system of numbering rice chromosomes and linkage groups was agreed and useful discussions about gene symbolization were held. New office bearers of RGC were elected for a 5-year term. We are looking forward to working with them for furthering the cause of rice genetics.

A meeting of the new Coordinating Committee of RGC was held on May 18, 1990 at IRRI under the Chairmanship of M.E. Takahashi. The members present were: Y. Futsuhara, A. Ghesquiere, M. H. Heu, A. Hirai, N. Iwata, G. S. Khush, T. Kinoshita, S. K. Min, H. I. Oka, H. Satoh, D. Senadhira, K. Takeda, D. A. Vaughan, H. K. Wu, and Ray Wu. Following matters were discussed:

1. Ray Wu proposed that the next Rice Genetics Symposium should be held after 2 or 3 years. However, several members suggested that we should continue to practice of holding the symposium every five years but hold small workshops on specific topics in the intervening years. Ray Wu accepted this proposal and it was decided to hold the Third International Rice Genetic Symposium in 1995. There was some discussion about the venue of the next symposium but no agreement was reached. Thus, the venue will be decided on the basis of consultations between members of the Coordinating Committee of RGC.

2. H. I. Oka proposed that a small workshop on gene nomenclature in rice be held following the 7th SABRAO Congress in 1993. H. K. Wu informed that the facilities for holding the workshop are available in Taipei. A. Hirai suggested that some of the problems related to gene nomenclature of biochemical characters can be discussed during the Third International Workshop on Molecular Biology of Rice to be held in Japan in 1991.

3. H. I. Oka informed that S. Iyama who used to help with the publication of RGN has retired from Institute of Genetics, Misima. Members gave a vote of thanks to Dr. Iyama for his services. H. I. Oka requested that the manuscripts for RGN 7 should be sent to the editors by end of September.

4. Dr. Senadhira informed that suggestions have been received to publish RGN twice a year. After considerable discussion, it was decided to continue the present practice of publishing RGN annually.

5. D.A. Vaughan suggested the possibility of printing RGN in the Philippines where the costs are much lower than in Japan. RGN 7 will be printed in Japan. The possibility of publishing future issues in the Philippines will be considered.

On behalf of the present coordinating committee members, we wish to offer our esteem and gratitude to Drs. M. S. Swaminathan and T. Matsuo for their excellent leadership as the chairman and co-chairman respectively, during their term of service ftom 1985 to 1990.

We appreciate your cooperation and confidence in RGC. If you have any suggestions for improving the work of RGC, please write to us.

M. E. Takahashi, Chairman

K. J. Lampe, Co-Chairman