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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>Dear
Colleagues,<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT
color=#000000> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>The Consortium
for Maize Genomics is pleased to announce the release of data and analysis from
the third assembly of ~500,000 methylation-filtered (MF) and High
C<SUB>0</SUB><I>t</I> (HC) genomic sequences (Release 3.0) at </FONT><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/">http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/</A><FONT
color=#000000>. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>Release 3.0
comprises four assemblies: <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>(1) MF-only
(Release3.0MF), <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>(2) HC-only
(Release3.0HC), <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>(3) MF and HC
combined (Release3.0ALL), <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>(4) Unfiltered
(UF) -- random shotgun reads generated from an unfiltered maize genomic library
-- (Release3.0UF).<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>For <B>Release
3.0 assembly statistics summary,</B> please visit: </FONT><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/release3.0/assembly_summary.shtml">http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/release3.0/assembly_summary.shtml</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>For
<B>Analysis of repetitive sequences in the maize genomic assemblies,</B> please
visit: </FONT><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/release3.0/repeat_analysis.shtml">http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/release3.0/repeat_analysis.shtml</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>For <B>Gene
matches to maize genomic sequences</B>, please
visit:<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/release3.0/gene_matches.shtml">http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/release3.0/gene_matches.shtml</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>To <B>Download
the Release 3.0 assemblies</B>, please visit:<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A
href="ftp://ftp.tigr.org/pub/data/MAIZE/">ftp://ftp.tigr.org/pub/data/MAIZE/</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT
color=#000000>****************************<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>WE’LL SEQUENCE
YOUR MAIZE BAC<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>Follow the
link for more information: </FONT><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/docs/tigr-scripts/tgi/mbac.pl">http://www.tigr.org/docs/tigr-scripts/tgi/mbac.pl</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT
color=#000000>****************************<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>In addition
we’ve updated the following features to reflect the Release3.0
AZMs<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>---GENOME MAP
BROWSER---<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/tgi/marker2.annotator.pl?species=combo_marker">http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/tgi/marker2.annotator.pl?species=combo_marker</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>---MAIZE BAC
VIEWER---<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/tgi/BAC.annotator.pl">http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/tgi/BAC.annotator.pl</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>---MAIZE BAC
ANNOTATION---<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/tgi/egc_bac_annot.pl?data=BAC">http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/tgi/egc_bac_annot.pl?data=BAC</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>---MAIZE
REPEAT DATABASE---<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT color=#000000><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Since the Release2.0 announcement,
we have updated our database of maize repetitive sequences which is available
for download.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Please visit the
following link for more information:</SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
</FONT></FONT><U><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/repeat_db.shtml
</SPAN></U><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1pt; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 2.25pt double">
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1pt; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 2.25pt double">
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>In conjunction
with the “Sequencing the Maize Genome” project we have created a website for the
general public (</FONT><A
href="http://www.maizegenome.org/">www.maizegenome.org</A><FONT color=#000000>)
which aims to provide information and updates relating to active maize genomic
sequencing projects.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>We are
constantly searching for ways to improve our website and to make the data
produced by the Consortium for Maize Genomics project easily accessible and
informative to the maize community. As always, we welcome your feedback --
please e-mail us at </FONT><A
href="http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/">http://www.tigr.org/tdb/tgi/maize/</A>
<FONT
color=#000000>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>Cathy Whitelaw
(The Institute for Genomic Research)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT color=#000000><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Brad Barbazuk
(</SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Donald</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Danforth</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Plant</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Science</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Center</SPAN></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT color=#000000>This project
is supported by NSF Plant Genome award, DBI-0221536
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p><FONT
color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#000000 size=3> </FONT></o:p></P></FONT></DIV>
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