Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Genetics and Breeding Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #273825
Title: Evaluation of University of Georgia turfgrass for response to sting nematode feeding

Author
item SCHWARTZ, BRIAN - University Of Georgia
item LUC, ERIC - University Of Florida
item Harris-Shultz, Karen
item RAYMER, PAUL - University Of Georgia
item HANNA, WAYNE - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/29/2011
Publication Date: 10/17/2011
Citation: Schwartz, B., Luc, E., Harris-Shultz, K.R., Raymer, P., Hanna, W. 2011. Evaluation of University of Georgia turfgrass for response to sting nematode feeding. Fundamentals for Life: Soil, Crop & Environmental Sciences. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA 2011 International Annual Meetings. Oct. 16-19, 2011, San Antonio, TX. Agronomy Abstracts. p. 139.

Interpretive Summary: not required

Technical Abstract: Turfgrasses grown in the sandy, well-drained soils of the Atlantic coastal plain in the United States will likely encounter sting nematode (Belonolaimus longicaudatus) pressure. The identification of resistance or tolerance genes which would allow new cultivars to thrive in plant-parasitic nematode infested soils would greatly serve the turfgrass industry. Therefore, an experiment to determine the response of differing turfgrass genotypes to sting nematode feeding was conducted during the 2009 growing season and repeated in 2011 in a glasshouse at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus. ‘TifSport’ and ‘TifGrand’ bermudagrasses (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis), the two parents of a bermudagrass mapping population, T89 (C. dactylon) and T574 (C. transvaalensis), used to create a linkage map at the University of Georgia, and two seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) genotypes, ‘SeaIsle1’ and UGA 31, were established from nematode-free, aerial stolons and inoculated with 50 sting nematodes. Significant differences were detected for final sting nematode population density among these six turfgrasses, but reproduction factors indicate that resistance is not present. The latest University of Georgia releases, TifGrand and UGA 31, exhibited greater total root length under sting nematode feeding as compared to their respective industry standards, TifSport and SeaIsle1. This suggests that maintenance of longer roots is possible when these genotypes are subjected to sting nematode feeding. Equally as promising was the discovery that the parents of our bermudagrass mapping population varied greatly in their susceptibility to the sting nematode during 2009 as indicated by the differential response in percent reduction of total root length. This study provides a preliminary view into the responses of six turfgrass genotypes when subjected to the sting nematode. Work should continue to further test the field resistance and tolerance of all evaluated turfgrasses in research conducted outside of the controlled greenhouse environment