101-7 Drought Induced Cuticular Changes to Creeping Bentgrass As It Affects Foliar Absorption of 15N.



Monday, October 17, 2011: 11:35 AM
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Room 008A, River Level

Frank Bethea Jr.1, Dara Park1, Andrew Mount2, Nick Menchyk1 and Haibo Liu1, (1)Department of Environmental Horticulture, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
(2)Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Foliar fertilization is a common practice to deliver nitrogen to golf course putting greens.  Unfortunately, very little is known about the mechanisms involved with nutrient uptake by foliar application.  The goals of this study were to understand cuticle changes under drought affecting nutrient absorption.  ‘A1-A4’ creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) under drought treatments was studied to determine morphological and compositional changes to the cuticle and how it affects foliar absorption.  Water deficiency treatments included: control, level I and level II at 100% ET, 50% ET and 25% ET returned, respectively.  Morphology and composition of the cuticle were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and gas chromatography.  Foliar absorption was studied by a foliar application of 15N-labeled urea applied at 0.732g N m-2.  Nutrient absorption was determined by measuring %15N recovery within plant tissue using mass spectrometry.  A surfactant added to the nutrient solution was studied to determine any potential benefit to increasing foliar absorption.  Preliminary results indicate total cuticle wax increased with drought treatments, while %15N recovery decreased.  Further analyses will be made to determine the correlation between cuticle changes and %15N recovery.    
See more from this Division: C05 Turfgrass Science
See more from this Session: Student Oral Competition: Stress Physiology, Breeding, & Genetics of Turfgrass