About the Authors

Peter A Peterson received his PhD in biology/chemistry, with an emphasis on genetics, from the University of Illinois in 1953. He then undertook a study on avocados and peppers at the University of California at Riverside, where he described the diurnal flowering cycle of the former and discovered the first linkage group and a male sterility system in the latter. In 1956, he joined the Department of Genetics at Iowa State University before moving to the Department of Agronomy in 1960. His lifelong research has focused on transposable elements (TE), beginning with a Bikini-bomb-induced mutant containing the En TE. In 1977, Professor Peterson joined the Max-Planck group in Cologne in a collaboration to investigate the molecular aspects of the En element and a number of TE-induced mutants. His current research is focused on the biology and role of TE in maize populations.

Angelo Bianchi did his graduate work in natural and biological sciences in 1948 and 1950, respectively, at the University of Pavia. In 1954, he was conferred a professorship by the Italian Ministry of Education. From 1955, he was a post-doctoral fellow in genetics at several locations, including the universities of Pavia, Piacenza, Milano and Harvard, as well as at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. After 12 years in academia (the universities of Pavia, Piacenza and Milano), Professor Bianchi moved to Italian government research institutions, where he has held a number of positions in plant breeding management. Currently the past director of the National Italian Institute for Cereal Crops, he has published and lectured extensively on the subject of maize genetics and breeding. He is also the editor of two journals, Genetics and Breeding and Maydica.

Contents:

• Development of Maize Genetics and Breeding: Flowering of Maize Genetics
• Relevant Genetic Milestones in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
• The Maize Plant
• Emergence of Corn
• The Bussey Institute and Its Role in the Development of Plant Science
• The Legendary School of Maize Genetics Under Emerson
• The Early Maize Cytogenetics Group
• The Maize Breeding Group
• The Maize Evolution Group
• A Later Genetics-Cytogenetics Group
• Stock Center, Genetics, and Pathology
• The Italian Maize Genetics Scientists
• The Development of an Understanding of the Anthocyanin Pathway
• The Origin of the Allerton Maize Genetics Meetings
• The Maize Community
• The Maize Pedigree Tree
• Legacy of the Past
• Science Progress
• The Commemorative Issues of MAYDICA: William A Russell
• Charles R Burnham
• R Alexander Brink
• William L Brown
• Marcus M Rhoades
• George F Sprague
• Paul C Mangelsdorf
• Barbara McClintock
• Charles O Gardner
• John R Laughan
• Hugh H Iltis
• Oliver E Nelson, Jr.
• Drew Schwartz
• Peter A Peterson
• Arnel R Hallauer
• Earl B Patterson
• Arthur Lee Hooker
• Myron G Neuffer
• Ercole Ottaviano
• Donald Sage Robertson
• Edward H Coe, Jr., Marcus S Zuber
• David B Walden
• James D Smith
• Recent Developments in the Genetics and Molecular Biology of Maize Mutants: Gene Cloning
• Visiting the Genome
• Genome Dissection and Fingerprinting
• Biotechnology
• Maize Development