The Association of Silica Bodies and Mowing Quality and Traffic Tolerance.

Silica bodies are important because the are associated with decreasing abiotic stressors such as temperature, fungal or drought stressors. Prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha) has shown potential as a low-input turfgrass in that it can survive extreme conditions; however, for the most part, this species lacks acceptable mowing quality. Because silica bodies may play an important role in the stress tolerances important in this low-input turfgrass species, our objective was to determine if there are differences in silica body number and size between prairie junegrass germplasm collections. In order to do this, we have developed a novel imaging method. Samples of twelve prairie junegrass accessions were collected from plant specimens maintained in the greenhouse under typical growth conditions. The present study utilized a novel method to both dry ash and image using fluorescent microscopy to image the silica bodies. ImageJ analyzed the images for size, number and orientation. We found significant difference between populations collected from Minnesota and a collection from Ireland in relation to silica body number and silica body size. These junegrass populations from Minnesota with high levels of silica bodies exhibit poor mowing quality while the collection from Ireland has very good mowing quality. Other factors are likely playing a role in mowing quality differences; however, differences in silica body deposition may account for a significant portion of these differences. The role of silica bodies in various stress tolerances should continue to be explored.