Transcript No Slide Title

New Developments in
Tall Fescues and Use
Strategies
Leah A. Brilman, Ph.D.
Research Director
Seed Research of Oregon
The Breeding Process
1. Establish a goal
2. Identify breeding material
3. Cross selected parent plants (clones)
4. Progeny Trials
5. Verification Trials
6. Varietal increase
Goals for Tall Fescues
Improved brown patch resistance
Rhizomes for recovery
Improved establishment
Drought avoidance and recovery
Improved root growth
Maintenance of turf density
Improved recovery
Traffic tolerance and recovery
Reduced elongation and mowing
Good aesthetics - Dark color, fine textured
Tall Fescue for Sports
Why use tall fescues for sports turf?
Wear tolerant once established
Drought tolerant - non-irrigated sites
Survives low maintenance
Problems for sports turf
Recovery from wear slow
Reestablishment slow
Less thatch or cushion
Determining best other species for blends
Best varieties for sports may not be available
Identify Breeding
Material
Existing varieties or breeding populations
Survivors in trials with high stress
Collections
Old cemetaries, parks, sports fields
Related Species
Genetic Engineering-Biotechnology
Identify Breeding Material
Screen for disease resistance - brown patch
resistance in Missouri
Identify Breeding Material
Survivors in trials with high stress
Identify Breeding Material
Survivors in trials with high stress - acid
soil/drought stress in Georgia
Cross Selected Parent
Plants (Clones)
Small to medium block of plants
(from 2 (common in Europe) to over a
hundred)
The progeny or offspring that are grown
from the seed are called half-sibs
Progeny Trials (Repeated
2 to ? times)
Select superior progeny
Root evaluations
Spaced plants
Turf plots
Evaluated usually from 2 to 4 years
Evaluate progeny for production
Seed Yield, Disease resistance
Repeat the cycle
Progeny Trials
Root evaluations
Goals for Tall Fescues
Improved brown patch resistance
No complete genetic resistance found
Incidence related to nitrogen, leaf
wetness, nightime temperatures
Leaf wetness related to turf density
Many strains of brown patch - poor
correlation in resistance across sites
Wider leaves - less disease
Selection - reduced density, semi-dwarfs
Genetic engineering, Hybrids?
Brown Patch Screening
Plant clonal nursery of tiller plants
Mow, fertilize, innoculate w/ multiple strains
Select best plants and clone into another
location
Best plants crossed with each other and
susceptible plants
Identify inheritance and genetics - may be
possible to find genes for resistance
Can look at other turf traits at same time
Brown Patch Screening
Goals for Tall Fescues
Rhizomes for recovery
Primary observation on spaced plants - not
in dense sod
Kentucky bluegrasses vary in rhizome
expression in dense sod
Bluegrasses develop rhizomes at 28 days
Red fescues develop rhizomes much later
Tall fescues in greenhouse have few
rhizomes at 70 days, significant at 7
months
Goals for Tall Fescues
Rhizomes for recovery
Longest rhizomes in Mediterranean
germplasm but turf quality not high
Rhizomes occur primarily in open areas
Other turf qualities must be considered density, diseases resistance
Tall fescues need time before wear applied
Combine with transitional ryegrass,
bluegrass for sports turf
Tall Fescue Rhizomes
Goals for Tall Fescues
Improved establishment
Faster establishment
Establishment under lower soil temperatures
Multiple cycles of selection
Still influenced by production dormancy
Less dormancy when seed produced in
moist environment
Dormancy broken by winter storage
Need germination and rapid growth - same
varieties may not be NTEP winners
Goals for Tall Fescues
Grub Resistance
Current endophytes do not have enough
alkaloids in root system to help
Grub resistance important for drought
tolerance
Some endophytes increase root growth
enough to help
Screen for drought resistance then insert
beneficial endophytes
Verification Trials
1. Turf Trials
NTEP - Ancillary Trials
Additional trials - unique characteristic
2. PVP trials
Establish unique variety
Morphological traits
Physiological traits
Disease resistance
How to Use the NTEP
www.ntep.org
www.ntep.org
Find location and
management
Closest to site
Same management
Similar environment with same management
Specialized trials - traffic or sod strength
Traffic trials - need ones that emulate sport and
location
Fall/spring wear, summer wear, winter-active
growth
NTEP data
Usually on permanent turf
Not at seeding rates commonly used
Management often different than user
Usually without traffic or with artificial traffic
Need traffic sooner with higher seeding rates
Color often overides other important
characters
Genetic studies
Tall fescue is hexaploid - more difficult to study
One set of chromosomes from meadow fescue
= perennial ryegrass
Noble Foundation - Expressed Sequence Tags
Identify genes differentially expressed in
drought or heat stressed plants
Develop markers from these tags
Apply marker assisted selection
Genetic Modification
Primary targets to date have been forage
targets
Reduced lignin content - may improve mowing
but would not improve wear tolerance
Successful in tissue culture and transformation
Maybe useful in brown patch resistance if
correct gene could be found
Future Work
Evaluation for traffic resistance
Need traffic with drought
Continued selection of tall fescues under
drought and disease stress
Identification of other selection techniques
Trials with other species