Breeding Improved Cool-season Turfgrasses for Stress Tolerance and Sustainability in a Changing Environment

Growth and sustainability of cool-season turfgrass species has the potential to be negatively impacted by future climate change; therefore, it will be necessary to breed turfgrass cultivars that have improved abiotic and biotic stress tolerance compared with cultivars that are currently available. This will require the use of techniques that can efficiently and effectively identify novel germplasm for incorporation into a breeding program. Over the past decade, advances have been made in the methodologies used to develop new cultivars of apomictic and open-pollinated, cool-season turfgrass species. This keynote address will discuss the impact climate change will have on plant breeding objectives, breeding techniques used by Rutgers University, and advances that have been made in breeding cool-season grasses for improved abiotic and biotic stress tolerance.