Enhancing Creeping Bentgrass Drought Tolerance with Gamma Amino Butyric Acid Application.

Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid known to accumulate in plants under drought stress. A growth chamber study was conducted to evaluate the effect of GABA in mitigating the drought stress response in creeping bentgrass cultivar ‘Penncross’.  GABA was applied as a foliar spray at the rate of 50 mM under well watered or drought conditions. GABA treated plants showed higher turf quality (TQ), relative water content (RWC), photochemical efficiency, and yield while maintaining lower electrolyte leakage and canopy temperature compared to controls under drought stress conditions. GABA treated plants showed differential accumulation of phytohormones, antioxidants, proline, glycine betaine and major and minor nutrients compared to drought stressed control. The results indicate that GABA may play an important role in promoting drought tolerance in creeping bentgrass.