Nomenclature simplicity is

[Rob Last]

 The Boyce Thompson Institute
 Subject Nomenclature simplicity is best                  9/18/93    1:43 PM
I agree with the proponents of a simple nomenclature system.  We often include
a superscipt  '+' or '-' symbol following the genotype, in publications.  This
indicates whether the allele is the wild-type '+' allele (in this context, the
one that we started with before mutagenesis), or a derived allele that causes
an altered phenotype.  This simple addition usually serves the reader well, and
I am not aware of it causing confusion in simple cases.  Perhaps the C. elegans
suffixes can be reserved for cases where the genetic interactions are complex,
and therefore confusion is likely to occur.
Rob Last