Resource Center at Ohio State

[Randall L Scholl]

Dear Arabidopsis Networkers,
      
As you may know, the NSF-funded biological resource center for      
Arabidopsis is being established  at The Ohio State University.       
Its official title is: "The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center     
at Ohio State."  We are charged with preserving and distributing   
Arabidopsis seeds and DNA and maintaining an electronic information
service.  We hope that these services will further the research  
efforts of the Arabidopsis community and the aims of the  
Multinational Coordinated Arabidopsis thaliana Genome Research Project.    
  
The fulfillment of the Center's goals requires the active participation 
and assistance of the entire community.  We welcome suggestions and 
will continue to seek advice on how best to serve you.  We hope that  
contributions of biological resources and information will be given
freely. With your help, we will be successful.

We will be coordinating all of our efforts with the Nottingham
Arabidopsis Stock Center and the DNA Resource Center in Koln.


The Center may be contacted by any one of several means:

1. Regular mail:

      The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center
            at Ohio State
      1735 Neil Avenue
      Columbus, OH 43210

2. Telephone:     614-292-9371

3. E-mail:        arabidopsis+ at osu.edu

4. Fax:           To be installed in approximately two weeks!
                  (number is 614-292-0603)

We plan to maintain close communication with the Arabidopsis
community through the e-mail network and direct mail.
We will discuss issues relevant to our operation via the Bionet      
news network.  Watch for these!  Several topics of immediate      
interest follow:      
      
1. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE CENTER      
      
Three major service facilities will be established at this Center.      
These are: 1) A seed stock facility which will collect, preserve      
and distribute genetic lines and mutants of Arabidopsis; 2) A DNA      
facility which will collect, preserve and distribute DNA stocks of
diverse types; and 3) A computer database which will assemble and      
make available information about Arabidopsis, through electronic      
means.        
      
While I am officially Director of the Center, two colleagues      
share responsibility for specific aspects of its function.  Dr.      
Keith Davis of the Ohio State Biotechnology Center is Associate      
Director and will supervise the DNA Facility, and Dr. Sakti      
Pramanik of the Computer Science Department, Michigan State      
University will supervise the development of the Arabidopsis      
computer database.  In addition to overall coordination of       
the Center's activity, I will supervise the seed stock facility.      
      
You can contact us at the following addresses:
      
      
Dr. Randy Scholl              telephone:  614-292-1982      
A.B.R.C. at Ohio State        E-mail:     Scholl.1 at osu.edu      
1735 Neil Avenue              FAX:        614-292-4466      
Columbus, OH 43210      
      
      
Dr. Keith Davis               telephone:  614-292-2115      
Ohio State Biotechnology      E-mail:     Davis.67 at osu.edu      
      Center                  FAX:        614-292-5379      
1060 Carmack Rd.      
Columbus, OH 43210      
      
Dr. Sakti Pramanik            telephone:  517-353-3177      
Dept. of Computer Science     E-mail:     pramanik at cpswh.msu.edu      
Michigan State University     FAX:        517-336-1061      
East Lansing, MI 48824      
      
It is planned that the Center will employ four (able and hard-      
working!) masters-level, technicians.  Two of these will      
be responsible for collecting seeds, growing plants and      
disseminating seeds.  The other two will have similar     
responsibilities relating to the DNA clones and      
should be experienced with DNA handling and analytical     
procedures.     
      
2. SEARCH FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS      
      
With regard to the these positions, we are searching for     
individuals with prior experience with Arabidopsis.        
Starting salaries are excellent (up to $25,000/yr)!  If any of you     
are aware of individuals who might be interested, please have them     
contact us as soon as possible.  For a more detailed description      
of these positions, please see the job description included at the     
end of this message.       
      
We feel that obtaining the right individuals for these positions      
is vital to our success.      
      



3. SCHEDULE FOR CENTER STARTUP      
      
Our first few months of operation will be occupied with      
organizational matters, collecting seed and DNA stocks and      
characterizing these.  We hope to be able to coordinate our      
operations with the other Arabidopsis centers so that our      
procedures for ordering, stock donation, etc. will be similar      
to theirs.  We will be sending communications about these matters      
later.  If all proceeds as expected, we should be able to make      
some seed and DNA stocks available for ordering sometime after      
March, 1992.  More about that later, also!      
      
4. COMPUTER DATABASE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT      
      
An important aspect of our developmental phase will be the design      
and implementation of the computer database. We envision that it      
will contain detailed records for all of our stocks, a      
bibliography of Arabidopsis and a "Who's Who" list of Arabidopsis      
researchers.  We will be surveying the community concerning the
precise demand for different services, etc., and will be      
implementing the system over a two-year period.  However, the      
basic system, available by direct access, should be available by      
summer, 1992.        
      
We will be communicating regarding our planning of this system as  
time proceeds. IN ADDITION, WE WILL BE DISTRIBUTING A SURVEY  
QUESTIONNAIRE AT THE ISPMB MEETINGS REGARDING THE NEEDS AND  
PREFERENCES OF THE COMMUNITY FOR THE DATABASE ORGANIZATION .   
If you will be attending, be sure to obtain one from us.        
      
5. ACTIVITIES AT THE ISPMB MEETINGS IN TUCSON, ARIZONA      
      
Keith, Sakti and I will be attending the ISPMB meetings in
Tucson and will be sharing a booth there with the Nottingham      
Arabidopsis Seed Center and the Koln DNA stock center.  Look us      
up and participate in our survey, as mentioned above!        
















6. MAILING LIST 

We have obtained the addresses used for this mailing from  
lists generously supplied by the Nottingham Arabidopsis  
Stock Centre and Dr. Mark Estelle of Indiana University.  If you  
wish to have your name placed on our permanent mailing list,  
have your name removed from the list or have your address  
corrected or updated, please complete the form below and return  
it.  Please include all necessary zip or postal codes!

**************************************************************** 
Name___________________________________  Telephone:____________ 

Address:_______________________________  Fax:_________________ 

        _______________________________  E-mail:______________ 

        ___________________________________ 

        ___________________________________ 

O  Please place my name on the Center's mailing list. 

O  Please remove my name from the mailing list. 

O  Please correct/update my address as shown above. 
***************************************************************** 
      


Do not hesitate to contact us directly at any time with questions      
or suggestions.  We look forward to serving all of you.      
      
Sincerely,      
      
Randy Scholl      
Director, The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center at Ohio State
  
      
      




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                  JOB ANNOUNCEMENT      
      
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN - ARABIDOPSIS BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE CENTER AT       
OHIO STATE.        
      
We are organizing The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center at      
Ohio State University, where we will be collecting thousands of      
interesting mutant lines and DNA clones of this important model