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A major source of problems occurs when more than one published name is associated with the same gene or when the same gene symbol is assigned to more than one gene. An example of the former is EMB30 which is also known as GNOM,and of the latter is the symbol FDH which has been used for both FORMATE DEHYDROGENASE and FIDDLEHEAD.These problems have been addressed, in part, by the establishment of a gene name registry for genes identified by mutation (Meinke and Koornneef, 1997). As there are many cases where same gene has been published under many names, TAIR maintains a list of aliases associated with each gene (see below). See section:Choosing a unique gene symbol.
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Naming genes based upon mutant phenotype
Please refer to Meinke and Koornneef, 1997 for a discussion and examples of naming genes based upon mutant phenotype. This manuscript provides instructions for developing mutant gene names/symbols, proper nomenclature for publication and community standards for genetic analysis of mutant phenotypes. Mutant gene names are generally based upon one or more aspects of the mutant phenotype (e.g.NON-PHOTOTROPIC HYPOCOTYL1) or a genetic interaction such as SUPPRESSOR OF PHYA-105. Gene symbols are three letters and may or may not derive from the full name (e.g. NON-PHOTOTROPIC HYPOCOTYL1; NPH1 or ENHANCER OF AGAMOUS; HUA). For publications and presentations, mutant gene names and symbols are lowercase and italicized and wild type alleles are uppercase and italicized. Protein products of genes are uppercase and not italicized. To help alleviate the problems associated with duplication of gene names, a mutant gene name registry has been created. Names and symbols for mutant genes should be registered with the curator of mutant gene names (Dr. David Meinke) along with map location and a description of the mutant phenotype (http://mutant.lse.okstate.edu/genepage/genepage.html).
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