from Dave Matthews, updated 2/95 HOW TO ACCESS GRAINGENES, IN ALL ITS GUISES USER INTERFACES TO GRAINGENES AND ASSOCIATED DATASETS The GrainGenes database is currently available in five formats: ACEDB, Gopher, World Wide Web (WWW), CD-ROM, and electronic mail. The ACEDB interface supports the most powerful query strategies and provides interactive graphical displays of the genetic maps. On the other hand, for many people the Gopher and WWW formats are easier to access, as well as easier to use. In addition, the Gopher and WWW formats include not only the core GrainGenes dataset but also an equally large amount of information that is in free text format or in structures other than that of ACEDB. Many of these additional datasets are searchable online, and some are also available for downloading in their entirety. They include Annual Wheat Newsletter, volumes 37 - 41 Catalogue of Gene Symbols for Wheat Commercial Wheat Cultivars of the US, an electronic monograph by Ken Kephart HMW-glutenin subunit data for 1500 wheat cultivars, from Bob Graybosch Wheat performance evaluations, organized by Ken Kephart Wheat quality evaluations, from Bob Graybosch The Gopher/WWW version of the core GrainGenes dataset is also updated more frequently than the official release of the ACEDB version. Thus if for example the current release version is 1.4, the Gopher "Search the GrainGenes database" item will be version 1.4+. The CD-ROM and email interfaces provide subsets of the WWW and Gopher functionality, respectively. ACCESS METHODS For sites that are well connected to the Internet, the Gopher and WWW formats of GrainGenes are the easiest to access, requiring only - a direct network connection from your personal computer to the Internet (no password needed), or - a modem connection to a Unix or other Internet host running Gopher or WWW software. The ACEDB format of GrainGenes provides its graphical, mouse-based user interface via the X11 network protocol. ACEDB access requires - a Unix machine running the ACEDB software, or - a direct network connection (as opposed to a modem connection) to such a machine, and X11 software for your personal computer. GOPHER Identical copies of the GrainGenes Gopher server are maintained at two independent sites, one at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and the other at the National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD. If one is unavailable, due to unforeseen but over the long term inevitable circumstances, simply switch to the other one: host greengenes.cit.cornell.edu, port 70 host probe.nalusda.gov, port 7002 The NAL has also established a Gopher server that allows searching all the USDA-supported plant genome databases: GrainGenes, AAtDB (Arabidopsis), MaizeDB, Soybase, TreeGenes, RiceGenes and SolGenes (Solanaceae). This Gopher server is listed in the GrainGenes Gopher menu "Other plant genome Gophers", or it can be accessed directly at host probe.nalusda.gov, port 70. WORLD WIDE WEB The World Wide Web is a kind of super-Gopher system, with all the features of the Gopher and more. Hypertext links, live querying of ACEDB databases, and interconnections between heterogeneous databases are among its greatest strengths. Those who have direct access (TCP or SLIP) to the Internet can connect to the WWW by using the "Netscape" or "Mosaic" software, which can be obtained by anonymous ftp from ftp.mcom.com or ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu, respectively. Those who have lower-speed access via a Unix host can use the Unix WWW client program "lynx". The address (URL) for the GrainGenes WWW page is: http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ graingenes.html. This page contains links to - the GrainGenes Gopher and everything in it, - "GrainGenes WWW", a hypertext version of the core GrainGenes dataset, supporting nearly all of the query functions available in the the ACEDB version, - fully formatted, illustrated documents available nowhere else but in print, such as CIMMYT's "Wheat diseases and pests", - other WWW servers of interest to GrainFolk. "GrainGenes WWW" is provided by the Agricultural Genome Information Server at the National Agricultural Library. This server also purveys WWW databases for many other species. It can be reached at http://probe.nalusda.gov:8000. ACEDB Copies of the ACEDB version of GrainGenes, for running on a Unix host, can be obtained from the National Agricultural Library's anonymous ftp server, probe.nalusda.gov, in directory pub/graingenes. Users who have no Unix machine but do have direct network access (TCP/IP or SLIP) and X11 software for their personal computer may request a GrainGenes ACEDB account by writing to Dave Matthews at the address below. X11 software for Macintosh includes MacX (Apple Computer) and eXodus (White Pine Software); for MS Windows there are eXceed/W (Hummingbird Communications) and DESQview/X (Quarterdeck Office Systems) among others. CD-ROM The January 1995 release of the Plant Genome Database CD-ROM contains not only GrainGenes but also databases for Arabidopsis, maize, soybeans, forest trees, rice, Solanaceae, and Chlamydomonas. It provides a WWW-like interface to the core databases using Mosaic, and runs on Windows, Macintosh and Unix machines. To order it, contact Plant Genome Data and Information Center National Agricultural Library 4th Floor 10301 Baltimore Blvd. Beltsville, MD 20705-1513 or send your request via email to pgenome@nalusda.gov. EMAIL SEARCHING The same database search mechanism that is available via Gopher can also be accessed by electronic mail. For instructions send the message "help" (in the body of the message, not the Subject line) to waismail@probe.nalusda.gov. HELPLINE The NAL has set up a helpline for assistance in accessing and using the plant genome databases. Help is available either by electronic mail to pgenome@nalusda.gov, or by telephone at 301-504-6613. GrainGenes-specific questions should be directed to Olin Anderson oandersn@pw.usda.gov or Dave Matthews matthews@greengenes.cit.cornell.edu .