76-24 Responses of Creeping Bentgrass to Salt Stress During in Vitro Germination.

Poster Number 230

See more from this Division: C05 Turfgrass Science
See more from this Session: Graduate Student Poster Competition: Breeding, Physiology and Stress Management
Monday, November 1, 2010
Long Beach Convention Center, Exhibit Hall BC, Lower Level
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Sheng Wang and Qi Zhang, PO Box 6050, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
Many golf courses and turfgrass fields use recycled (effluent or reclaimed) water, which contains high salts,  as part or a sole irrigation source to lower costs and comply with governmental restrictions on water utilization. High salinity negatively affects turfgrass performance. Using salt-tolerant species or cultivars is one the most effective methods to address the salinity problem. Twenty-six commercially available creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) cultivars were evaluated for salt tolerance during in vitro germination on 1% agar media supplemented with NaCl at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 g L-1 at 25/15 ºC (day/night) temperature under fluorescent light (36 μmol·s-1·m-2) with an 8- to16- h photoperiod. Significant variations in salinity tolerance were observed among the cultivars. ‘Declaration’, ‘Seaside II’, ‘T-1’, and ‘Bengal’ had 50% reduction in final germination percentage (FGP, %) and daily germination rate (DGR, % d-1) when salinity levels were >16.0 and 10.0 d Sm-1, respectively, indicating high salt tolerance. In contrast, salt-sensitive cultivars, ‘Tyee’, ‘Kingpin’, and ‘SR1150’, had 50% reduction in FGP and DGR when average salinity levels were 11.6 and 6.5 d Sm-1, respectively. Final germination percentage and DGR decreased linearly or quadratically as salinity levels increased, with an average of 55 and 67% decrease in FGP and DGR, respectively, in 5 to 20 g L-1 NaCl-containing medium. The largest difference between FGP (1.9 %) and DGR (26.2 %) reduction under saline conditions was observed at 5 g L-1.  It indicated that DGR was more sensitive to salinity changes than FGP; therefore, DGR might be a more reliable method to be used to select salt tolerant germplasm.
See more from this Division: C05 Turfgrass Science
See more from this Session: Graduate Student Poster Competition: Breeding, Physiology and Stress Management