Genetic Diversity of Tall Fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Screb.) Darbysh.) Cultivars Using Microsatellite (SSR) Markers.

Hexaploid tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Screb.) Darbysh.) is an important cool-season grass species that is used for turf and forage applications. Turf-type tall fescue is highly suitable for home lawns and sports fields due to its superior drought, heat tolerance, and fine texture.  The objective of this study is to show the relatedness of turf-type cultivars based on nuclear and chloroplast genomes. Complete genomic DNA was extracted from 108 tall fescue cultivars and 65 tall fescue collections (16 individual samples to represent each cultivar or collection) with Lolium perenne, Lolium multiflorum, Lolium arudinaceum spp. fenas, and Lolium pretense as outgroups.  Each individual was genotyped using 31 nuclear genomic SSR markers. PCR product size from each individual was assessed using capillary electrophoresis (Applied Biosciences 3500 xl Genetic Analyzer). Results indicate that the SSR markers used in this study can be useful for future applications such as genotyping new cultivars and collections of tall fescue and determining genetic relationships between cultivars.