101461
Evaluation and Breeding of Zoysiagrass Using Japan’s Natural Genetic Resources

See more from this Division: ITRC Program
See more from this Session: Zoysiagrass Symposium

Friday, July 21, 2017: 10:00 AM
Regency Ballroom Salon D-F

Masumi Ebina, Forage Crop Genome Unit, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO, Tochigi, Japan, Makoto Kobayashi, Forage Crop Breeding Unit, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO, Tochigi, Japan, Hideaki Tonogi, Graduate School of Horticulture, Faculty of Horticulture (Adjunct Professor), Chiba University, Saitama, Japan, Shin-ichi Tsuruta, Tropical Agriculture Research Front, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, JIRCAS, Okinawa, Japan, Hikaru Akamine, Subtropical Field Science Center, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara-Cho, Okinawa, Japan and Shigemitsu Kasuga, Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
Abstract:
In the early 1990s, breeding of zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) began with the collection and evaluation of over 1200 accessions from a hundred natural Zoysia grasslands and habitats in Japan. Through this program, the accessions ‘Asagake’ and ‘Asamoe’, with superior agronomic traits and turf quality, were released. Using trait scores of 12 breeders’ lines, we preliminarily analyzed their broad-sense heritability (H2) to collect basic breeding information. This analysis revealed high H2 in spike length (96.3%) and spike color (98.6%), but low H2 in stolon density (30.1%). The analysis revealed lower H2 of physiological traits, especially of plant vigor after winter (44.7%). These results indicate that breeding for morphological traits could be easier than breeding for physiological traits, especially winter hardiness.

See more from this Division: ITRC Program
See more from this Session: Zoysiagrass Symposium

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