The ATG seminar, each Wednesday at 12:15 in room 1360 Genetics/Biotech, has been bringing together plant researchers on campus since it started in 1993 as a core activity of the NSF/USDA/DOE-funded Arabidopsis Training Grant (ATG). Even though the training grant expired in 2003, at least 40 professors, postdocs, staff, and students gather each week to listen to a research presentation, ask questions, and eat junk food.

The original training grant, headed by Mike Sussman, Rick Amasino, and Tony Bleecker, played a major role in establishing the University of Wisconsin as a powerhouse of Arabidopsis research. The grant was initially funded for 5 years, and then renewed at 50% of the original level for another 5 years. During this time, some very significant contributions to plant biology were made. For example, the first hormone receptor was identified (the ETR1 ethylene receptor) and a method for performing reverse genetics using T-DNA insertions was scaled up to the genome level by the Sussman laboratory. The International Conference on Arabidopsis Research became centered here during this time mainly due to the care and responsibility of Rick Amasino. Arabidopsis research at the University of Wisconsin is alive and well today in part because of the original training grant. The large number of UW labs now working on Arabidopsis, the great training environment, and the ATG seminar are legacies of the original grant.

ATG is the start codon of proteins. It appears that the time is not yet to convert our group to TAG, the stop codon.