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Agronomy
Special Issues
Turfgrass Biology, Genetics, and Breeding
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Turfgrass Biology, Genetics, and Breeding

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2018) | Viewed by 17320

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. David R. Huff

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Turfgrasses provide humans with a unique source of physical wellness and emotional well-being and, as such, are enjoyed and utilized by hundreds of millions of people world-wide. Today’s turfgrasses are highly adapted to turf management regimes due, in large part, to breeding efforts that transformed “wild” pasture and forage grasses into commercial turfgrass products through the application of sound biological and genetics knowledge; for example, the use of fungal endophytes, manipulating apomixis, effecting wide-species hybridization, and methods of breeding for improved performance, enhanced biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and profitable seed yield.

Continued efforts to modify turfgrasses are necessary in order to meet the demands of an ever-changing climate, reduced water quality, preferences for reduced fertilizer and pesticide inputs, and for continued adaptation to specific management regimes. As a commodity, turfgrasses comprise dozens of different grass species, each with their own distinct genomic organization, physiological adaptations, and associated pests, and therefore each species requires specialized knowledge for continued improvement.

This Special Issue will focus on “Turfgrass Biology, Genetics, and Breeding”. We welcome novel research, review and opinion pieces covering all related topics including biology, genetics, breeding, genomics, biotechnology, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, herbicide resistance, physiological stress response, host-microbe interactions, phenotyping, management solutions, case-studies from the field, and policy positions.

Prof. Dr. David R. Huff
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • turfgrass genomics
  • turfgrass breeding
  • plant physiology
  • phenotyping
  • host-microbe interactions

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 855 KiB  
Article
Development of ent-kaurene Oxidase-Based Conserved Intron Spanning Primers for Species Identification in the Genus Poa (Poaceae; Bluegrass)
by Jonathan M. LaMantia, Ambika Chandra and David R. Huff
Agronomy 2018, 8(5), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8050058 - 24 Apr 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4670
Abstract
Interspecific hybridization has been attempted to combine the heat and drought of Poa arachnifera Torr. with the turf quality characteristics of several Poa species. Confirmation of an F1 hybrid through morphological analysis of vegetative and flowering characteristics is often time consuming and [...] Read more.
Interspecific hybridization has been attempted to combine the heat and drought of Poa arachnifera Torr. with the turf quality characteristics of several Poa species. Confirmation of an F1 hybrid through morphological analysis of vegetative and flowering characteristics is often time consuming and ambiguous. Ent-kaurene oxidase (KO) has been sequenced in rice, barley, and wheat. In rice, each of the five copies of KO gene has unique lengths for the first intron. Conserved intron spanning primers (CISP) can be used as a DNA marker to exploit variations of intron lengths that flank conserved gene sequences. In the present study, we developed CISP to sequence partial genomic fragments of the KO gene from seven Poa species. Through sequence analysis, species-specific primers were also developed to produce co-dominant markers that can be used to identify interspecific hybrids between Texas bluegrass and six other Poa species used in the present study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Turfgrass Biology, Genetics, and Breeding)
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Review

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8 pages, 826 KiB  
Review
Molecular Markers Improve Breeding Efficiency in Apomictic Poa Pratensis L.
by B. Shaun Bushman, Alpana Joshi and Paul G. Johnson
Agronomy 2018, 8(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8020017 - 10 Feb 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4596
Abstract
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) is a highly adapted and important turfgrass species in cool-season climates. It has high and variable polyploidy, small and metacentric chromosomes, and a facultative apomictic breeding system. As a result of the polyploidy and apomixis, identifying hybrids [...] Read more.
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) is a highly adapted and important turfgrass species in cool-season climates. It has high and variable polyploidy, small and metacentric chromosomes, and a facultative apomictic breeding system. As a result of the polyploidy and apomixis, identifying hybrids for Mendelian selection, identifying fixed apomictic progeny of desirable hybridizations for cultivar development, or differentiating among cultivars with subtle phenotypic differences is challenging without the assistance of molecular markers. Herein, we show data and review previous research showing the uses and limitations of using molecular markers for hybrid detection, apomixis assessment, and cultivar discrimination. In order to differentiate among different apomictic offtypes, both molecular markers and flow cytometry are necessary. For assessing similarity among progeny of hybridizations, as well as discriminating among cultivars, sets of markers are necessary and cryptic molecular variation must be considered. High throughput genotyping platforms are critical for increased genotyping efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Turfgrass Biology, Genetics, and Breeding)
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Other

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12 pages, 238 KiB  
Technical Note
Autonomous Mower vs. Rotary Mower: Effects on Turf Quality and Weed Control in Tall Fescue Lawn
by Michel Pirchio, Marco Fontanelli, Christian Frasconi, Luisa Martelloni, Michele Raffaelli, Andrea Peruzzi, Monica Gaetani, Simone Magni, Lisa Caturegli, Marco Volterrani and Nicola Grossi
Agronomy 2018, 8(2), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8020015 - 6 Feb 2018
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 6897
Abstract
Autonomous mowers are battery-powered machines designed for lawn mowing that require very low human labour. Autonomous mowers can increase turf quality and reduce local noise and pollution compared with gasoline-powered rotary mowers. However, very little is known about the effects of autonomous mowing [...] Read more.
Autonomous mowers are battery-powered machines designed for lawn mowing that require very low human labour. Autonomous mowers can increase turf quality and reduce local noise and pollution compared with gasoline-powered rotary mowers. However, very little is known about the effects of autonomous mowing on encroaching weeds. The aim of this research was to compare the effects of an autonomous mower and an ordinary gasoline-powered mower on weed development in an artificially infested tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) turf with different nitrogen (N) rates. A three-way factor experimental design with three replications was adopted. Factor A consisted of three N rates (0, 75, and 150 kg ha−1), factor B consisted of two mowing systems (autonomous mower vs. walk-behind gasoline rotary mower equipped for mulching), and factor C which consisted of four different transplanted weed species: (a) Bellis perennis L., (b) Trifolium repens L.; (c) Trifolium subterraneum L.; and (d) Lotus corniculatus L. Of these, B. perennis is a rosette-type plant, while the other three species are creeping-type plants. The interaction between mowing system and transplanted weed species showed that the four transplanted weed species were larger when mowed by the autonomous mower than by the rotary mower. The autonomous mower yielded larger weeds probably because the constant mowing height caused the creeping weed species to grow sideways, since the turfgrass offered no competition for light. N fertilization increased turf quality and mowing quality, and also reduced spontaneous weed infestation. Autonomous mowing increased turf quality, mowing quality, but also the percentage of spontaneous weed cover. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Turfgrass Biology, Genetics, and Breeding)
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