[Tom Wagner]

Morgan, great questions.

My initial question is how difficult is it to acquire germplasm for the varieties you have listed?

Easy to very difficult on some lines. Several people working together to obtain and direct our way would help. I am going to access those that wont affect my already marginal bank resources.

Let's forget the "heirloom" tag for a second and say open-pollinated, and in that regard,

I tend to focus lately on the "Heirloom" moniker as I can't compete with the major seed companies with OP's (open pollinated) as nearly all their release recently are hybrids. And I am leaning more to developing heirloom traits anyway.

there is plenty of desire and activity in finding new tomato varieties that come true from seed from year to year.

Yes, I agree. However, I have been disappointed in the lack of folks venturing with me on releasing my new varieties. The number of times I was going to get help on a website during this last year has greatly frustrated me. A number of events lately have hobbled my options of research activities next year.

Look at the dwarf project. It continues to mushroom and there may be two dozen new varieties that get selected out of it.

Great activities, but it doesn't serve my purposes. Sorry, it is difficult to explain. It's kinda like..been there, done that. As far as I know, there is no money in creating a bank of TSWV/Heirloom hybrids and distributing F-2 seed.

As much as people are affected by TSWV even on this forum

I must be out of the loop on this. How many people are affected by TSWV within the TVille members? The general public? Major growers? Seed producers?

I'd say that if someone made seeds available of some of the varieties above, we could see our first F1 crosses in 2008 and start getting some stabilized varieties by 2012

Very much in agreement with what I said earlier.

The most challenging part will be confirming TSWV resistance

Single gene, dominant. At least that's what I've read. The hybrids that carry TSWV resistance will only throw 1/2 of the resistance to the progeny. That is why I will stress more OP cultivars.
This would require grow outs in several climes to assess.

I am using the word resistance here because to my knowledge, the varieties listed do not succumb to TSWV at all, but instead are just carriers -- someone correct me if I am wrong

Carriers, resistant, whatever, as long as results are promising and seed treatment (hot water, TSP, chlorine) and multiple year seed storage diminishes seed coat infestation.

With some of the reports posted in the other thread, any tomato variety that is not TSWV-resistant will get wiped out fast enough to be obvious, if not scientifically proven.

As the unfortunate result of TSWV, but allowing for the benign, seed is extracted from selected vines.

The last few years have been devoted to things like organic gardening adaptations, Late Blight resistance, recombination of Heirloom hybrids, and filial advancement. Should I devote time and energy to the issues of TSWV?
The readership here on TVille is small compared to the general public and global researcher, and getting the message out is next to impossible for me.

Tom Wagner