Expression Levels of Proteins Associated with Heat Tolerance In Cool-Season Grass Species.

Heat stress is a major abiotic stress which affects cool-season plants.  Plants exposed to high temperatures often experience decreases quality and performance and stress related injury.  Previous studies using suppression subtractive hybridization and gel electrophoresis have identified several proteins which may be of key importance for heat tolerance.  Real-time PCR was used to quantify the expression levels of these previously identified proteins in tolerant and sensitive lines of cool-season turfgrasses to further confirm their roles in heat tolerance.  PCR based markers were also developed for these genes to possibly be used to screen for genotypes with the capability for improved heat tolerance.  These markers were also used in addition with previously mapped markers and a mapping population to test if any of these markers were associated with QTL’s to further demonstrate their role in heat tolerance.