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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Genetics and Breeding Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #391076
Research Project: Genetic Improvement and Cropping Systems of Warm-season Grasses for Forage, Feedstocks, Syrup, and Turf

Location: Crop Genetics and Breeding Research

Title: Registration of ‘MSB-264’ and ‘MSB-285’ bermudagrasses

Author
item DONG, HONGXU - Mississippi State University
item PHILLEY, H. WAYNE - Mississippi State University
item Harris-Shultz, Karen

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/25/2022
Publication Date: 5/11/2022
Citation: Dong, H., Philley, H., Harris-Shultz, K.R. 2022. Registration of ‘MSB-264’ and ‘MSB-285’ bermudagrasses. Journal of Plant Registrations. 16(2):185-197. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20218.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20218

Interpretive Summary: Bermudagrasses used for putting grasses are dominated by Tifgreen-derived cultivars. Tifgreen was released in 1956 but soon after its release somatic mutants (off-types) were observed and many of these mutants were released as new cultivars. These new cultivars often display genetic instability which causes differences in appearance, playability, response to herbicides, etc. resulting in severe problems and millions of dollars in losses to the golf course industry and sod farms. To develop new unrelated cultivars for golf greens, crosses were made between Cynodon dactylon and C. transvaalensis. The resulting material named MSB-264 and MSB-285 were evaluated as part of a five-year trial of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program of warm-season putting green cultivars. Fifteen bermudagrasses including the MSB lines and industry standards, were evaluated at 11 locations throughout the US. The MSB lines exhibited high turfgrass quality and density, fine leaves, and maintained fall color (stayed green). Additionally, the MSB lines were genotyped and compared to the Tifgreen-derived cultivars and other bermudagrass cultivars and were found to be not Tifgreen-derived and unique. These two new bermudagrasses are the first non-Tifgreen-derived hybrid

Technical Abstract: ‘MSB-264’ (Accession No.: PI 699313) and ‘MSB-285’ (Accession No.: PI 699314) are fine-textured, high-quality interspecific bermudagrasses (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis) developed at Mississippi State University. These two grasses were released on 25 August 2021 from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Through the 2013 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program warm-season putting green test, data were collected for four years across 11 locations in the U.S. Compared to the commercial cultivars (‘Sunday’, ‘TifEagle’, ‘TifDwarf’, and ‘Mini-Verde’) and other experimental lines, both ‘MSB-264’ and ‘MSB-285’ exhibited superior turf quality, leaf texture, density, genetic color, fall and winter color retention, spring green-up speed, and percent ground living cover. ‘MSB-264’ and ‘MSB-285’ also have a more upright leaf orientation than traditional bermudagrass putting green cultivars. Although ‘MSB-264’ and ‘MSB-285’ had higher seedhead production compared to the commercial cultivars and other experimental lines, regular mowing could effectively remove seedheads. ‘MSB-264’ and ‘MSB-285’ have demonstrated positive performance data and are the first hybrid bermudagrass cultivars used for golf greens that are not related to Tifgreen.