CFG and the new year

This New Year, the ®rst of the New Millennium, sees an important landmark in the development of Comparative and Functional Genomics (CFG). CFG is no longer a specialised section of Yeast, but is now a journal in its own right (or is that write?). Yeast subscribers should not fear, they will continue to receive complimentary copies of CFG throughout 2001. What it does mean is that CFG will receive its own citation index and the correct abbreviation for the journal, when citing its articles, is Comp. Funct. Genom. Other ®rsts in this issue include the ®rst `short communication' to appear in the journal (in fact, from my own group!). Authors who wish to adopt this format should follow the guidance in CFG's `Notes for Contributors'. Two new members of the Editorial Board join us with the New Year. Takuji Sasaki (Rice Genome Research Program, Japan) and Ed Coe (University of Missouri, USA) join Mike Gale's team. They will cover, respectively, rice and grasses, and maize and related crops. This issue has a major Meetings Feature on the second Agricultural Microbes Genome Meeting (AMG2) in San Diego. The next Issues will feature two major model organisms, Arabidopsis thaliana and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the genome sequences of which have recently been completed. JuÈrg BaÈhler (Sanger Centre, UK) has been recruited to the Board to help with the anticipated increase in submissions on the functional genomics of the ®ssion yeast. Thus, all seems set for a truly groundbreaking year for CFG and I wish all of our readers every success in their research during 2001. Steve Oliver Comparative and Functional Genomics Comp Funct Genom 2001; 2: 3.