Source: NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV submitted to
IMPROVING DROUGHT TOLERANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY OF TURFGRASSES USED IN SOUTHERN LANDSCAPES THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF BREEDING, GENETICS, PHYSIOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND OUTREACH
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1020222
Grant No.
2019-51181-30472
Project No.
NC09878
Proposal No.
2019-03141
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
SCRI
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2019
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2024
Grant Year
2019
Project Director
Milla-Lewis, S. R.
Recipient Organization
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV
(N/A)
RALEIGH,NC 27695
Performing Department
Crop and Soil Sciences
Non Technical Summary
The implementation of sustainable landscapes should be a goal in all regions of the country; however, severe droughts and limited water in the southern and western U.S. are dictating changesto the use of specific plant materials and irrigation in landscapes. There is a critical need for turfgrasses that provide functional surfaces tolerant to drought, reduced irrigation, and irrigationwith reclaimed water. Failure to address these challenges will result in loss of turfgrass areas, along with their economic, environmental and social benefits. This transdisciplinary group from sixuniversities was formed in 2010 to address these problems by developing turfgrasses with reduced irrigation requirements. To date, our group has released six improved cultivars for three of the mosteconomically important turfgrass species grown in these regions. Significant opportunities remain to advance drought and salinity tolerant turfgrasses with innovations in genomics that leverage the successful economic impacts of our previous work with evolving industry needs and societal preferences. The levels of improvement of our released cultivars are promising and substantiate the need for continued quantification of their reduced water use. Implementing education and outreach efforts to increase their adoption will maximize the economic and environmental impact of these grasses. Advancing our successful research relationship will increase the efficiency of cultivar development through use of new screening tools and technologies, and dissemination of information to stakeholders and end-users. Ultimately, these efforts will facilitate our long-term goal of reducing water consumption in landscapes through the continued development and increased utilization of drought tolerant turfgrasses.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
40%
Applied
50%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1111620303035%
2011620108135%
2031620102030%
Knowledge Area
111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water; 203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants; 201 - Plant Genome, Genetics, and Genetic Mechanisms;

Subject Of Investigation
1620 - Warm season perennial grasses;

Field Of Science
1081 - Breeding; 3030 - Information and communication; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
Research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics: Approximately 58% of the effort, including:Supply genotypes into a robust pipeline for multi-location evaluations in nurseries that differ in the type and intensity of abiotic and biotic stresses according to environmental conditions at each location to exploit genotype × environment (G × E) effects.Evaluate advanced lines under long-term drought conditions and conduct ancillary trials for shade and salinity tolerance, pest responses, and sod-tensile strength.Identify and validate quantitative trait loci associated with drought and salinity tolerance to implement marker-assisted selection.Identify candidate genes through an integrated analysis that combines gene expression with metabolic information.Generate high quality reference genomes for African bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, and zoysiagrass.New innovations and technology: Approximately 8% of effort, including:Evaluate emerging UAS technologies for their potential to facilitate high-throughput phenotyping to improve data collection on drought tolerance associated traits.Efforts to improve production efficiency, productivity, and profitability over the long term: Approximately 34% of effort, including:Quantify the water required to maintain acceptable quality in advanced lines generated from this program to develop water saving maintenance protocols for new cultivars.Conduct surveys to evaluate trade-offs between drought tolerance and aesthetics.Produce extension-outreach programs to help extension experts, stakeholders, and consumers understand the long-term impact of drought tolerant turf selection and conservation of water.
Project Methods
Objective 2a: Minimal water requirements will be determined for all entries through field dry-down studies during the growing season. During Year 1, we will establish three replicates of each entry into 1.5 m × 1.5 m field plots under well-watered conditions. During Years 2-4, automatic or permanent translucent rainout shelters will cover plots during the summer months. Over a 10-week period each summer, we will monitor plots three times per week and individually hand-water back to field capacity by applying 1" of irrigation only once when ≥50% canopy wilt is observed within a given plot. At the conclusion of the 10-week study, we will calculate total gallons of water required, as well as number of days until wilt for each entry.Objective 2b: The top 2-3 lines from each species identified from previous SCRI advanced trials, and commercial check cultivars, will be exposed to drought or non-stress conditions in controlled environment studies. Physiological mechanisms including: photosynthetic metabolism assessed by net CO2 exchange and/or photochemical efficiency. Accumulation of compatible solutes including non-structural carbohydrates, proline and protective proteins such as anti-oxidant enzymes will be measured using standard spectrophotometric techniques. Fraction of transpirable soil water will determine critical thresholds among genotypes that affect physiological parameters. At the conclusion, root characteristics will be measured to determine drought avoidance potential.Objective 2c: Each participating location will be equipped with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2 quadcopter (20MP true color CMOS sensor) and a DJI Matrice 200 quadcopter with SlantRange 3PX sensor. A dedicated person at each location will fly UAS missions on new SSPNs and restricted irrigation trials twice a month. Flights will be conducted to investigate specific interests such as drought stress, cold tolerance, and pest pressure. We will extract phenotypic information for each plot including NDVI from UAS-based multispectral images and VARI from UAS-based RGB images.Objective 3a: We will use carefully selected germplasm to breed improved lines of bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, seashore paspalum and zoysiagrass.Objective 3b: We will establish SSPNs using 5 × 5 cm plugs in plots ranging from 1 m2 to 1.5 m2 in a row-column design with two replications and conduct evaluations for four years. After establishment, plots will be managed with few inputs: reduced water, reduced fertility and minimum pesticides as determined by each location. Turf quality, density, color, and texture will be rated monthly during the growing season without drought stress. More frequent ratings of turf quality and estimates of percent green plot cover will be made when the plots are under drought stress. Subsequent recovery after rainfall or irrigation will be monitored likewise. Occurrences of biotic stresses will be rated as needed. Evaluation protocols will be followed per National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) guidelines.Objective 3c: Based on the results of the SSPN trials from the 2015 SCRI-CAP, each of the six breeding programs will advance 20 lines for further study in this new SCRI-CAP for a total of 120 lines. These lines will be evaluated for restricted irrigation, salinity tolerance, sod production, and shade tolerance/avoidance.Objective 4a:We will use various software packages (e.g. TASSEL5.0, UNEAK, UGbS-Flex) and custom perl scripts for analysis of the GBS data and SNP identification. The SNP data will be used to construct genetic maps using a modified version of MAPMAKER, JoinMap 4.0 or the R package Onemap. QTL analyses for drought and salinity will be conducted using R/QTL, MapQTL 6.0 and the R package MVQTLCIM. GWAS analysis will be conducted using TASSEL 5.0?Objective 4b: RNA-Seq will be performed as described in Chen et al. using Illumina sequencing platforms. Metabolomics will be performed using LC-MS/MS, and resulting spectra will be identified using the METLIN database in conjunction with authenticated standards. MetaboAnalyst software will be used for multivariate analysis of metabolomics data as well as integrated pathways using differences in gene expression from transcriptome data sets. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) will follow a previously developed system.Objective 4c: Genome sequencing libraries will be prepared utilizing kits from Pacific BioSciences. Reads will be assembled using the latest version of the CANU software and assemblies polished utilizing available Illumina short-read data through use of Bowtie and Pilon software. Transcriptome data sets for corresponding samples will be utilized from Objectives 4a and 4b and public data sets to perform annotation using the MAKER pipeline with AUGUSTUS and SNAP gene prediction models. Resulting annotations will be subjected to various quality-control methods to ensure accurate predictions, including BUSCO benchmarking. Trait and species ontologies will be identified and utilized with machine learning algorithms for text processing searches of journal articles to aggregate data sets and information related to all published knowledge on phenotype validation in turfgrass and grass species of interest. MCScan will be utilized to assess syntenic relationships among all (turf)grass species of interest.Objective 5a: Among urban consumers, water purveyors, and other decision makers, our objective is to increase awareness of new cultivars and research-based management strategies that reduce water inputs. Traditional education and outreach methodologies will help raise awareness; however, additional efforts focused on the affective domain will also call people to action. Standard extension activities like field days, bulletins, online training, and workshops will educate extension specialists and agents at the county-level. Further, we will utilize the following media channels to educate specific strata at different levels: Fifteen-minute educational segments on RFD-TV, social media campaign, grade 6-12 unit plans, a data visualization website, among others.Objective 5b: To determine stakeholder preferences in turfgrass attributes, we will design conjoint choice experiments and conduct a web-based online survey with homeowners from southern states. Choice experiments will ask individuals to select their preferences from hypothetical alternative turfgrasses with a set of attributes that may vary by quality or quantity. The responses will determine consumer preferences and their willingness to pay for value-added turfgrasses using the multinomial logistic model and the random parameter logistic model. The online survey will also include socio-demographic questions to examine whether valuation of turfgrass differs by user groups' socio-demographic characteristics. Our econometric model will include interaction terms between attributes to analyze possible substitution and complementary relationships.Objective 5c: Models to predict turfgrass area will be developed using NAIP 1 m resolution aerial imagery in addition to vegetation classification tools in eCognition, ArcGIS, and the Descartes Platform. Multi-temporal imagery will be used to determine land cover underneath tree canopies and trees will be identified when they are in full canopy. Spectral information such as near infrared imagery will be used to differentiate turfgrass from bare or paved surfaces when trees have no leaves. Turfgrass under tree canopies and within three meters of them will be labeled as shaded. Reports will provide 1 m raster grids of the select cities, with further classification of the turfgrass as residential, commercial or parkland using available city zoning data.

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Audiences communicated with include: municipal administrators, water management district personnel, sod producers, lawn maintenance professionals, landscape architects, golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, turfgrass scientists, county agents, master gardeners and home owners. Changes/Problems: Personnel changes have occurred (e.g. employee monitoring and collecting data from lysimeters in Florida, graduate student collecting data on field plots in Georgia). At OSU, the field trial faced a significant setback due to severe winter damage to zoysiagrass, Seashore paspalum, and St. Augustine grass in December 2022. As a result, water usage data during the summer of 2023 was only collected on bermudagrass. Pest damage in Florida may data collection on some species not possible for the lysimeter study. In metabolomics study, delays in previous years have shifted the overall timeline for completion. Differences in tolerance mechanisms among elite genotypes (e.g. anisohydric strategies) have required us to adjust controlled environment screening protocols. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Overall, students research staff were trained in turfgrass science, stress physiology, greenhouse and field management, experimental design, molecular biology, plant genomics, bioinformatics and statistical analysis through involvement in research projects. Graduate students (Carolina Escalona, MS Student, NCSU; Kirtus Houting, MS student, NCSU; Susmita Gaire, PhD student, NCSU; Corey Ketchum, MS Student, NCSU; Ashley Schoonmaker, PhD student, NCSU; Jose Diaz, MS Student, TAMU College Station; Bigul Thapa Magar, Snigdha Arikilla, MS Student; OSU; Qianqian Fan, Ph.D. Student, Ravi Teja Seelam, Ph.D. Student, UGA; Alejandra Sierra, MS student, UF) Undergraduate research assistants (Zach Duncan, Aiman Shabaz, TAMU College Station; Kailyn Twyman, Arie Carr, Kaden Guest, Alex Martini, OSU; Dylan Clark, Merrick Graham,Angela Osorio, UF; Cloe Williams, NCSU) Post-doctoral researchers (Baoxin Chang, TAMU College Station; Haomin Lyu, Zixiao Zhao, TAMU Dallas; Beatriz Tome Gouveia, NCSU) International reserach interns (Erlin Cano, Daniel Dublon, NCSU) The Jespersen lab also participated in the "Young Scholars Program" which is a summer internship for high school students to get them interested in agricultural science and gain hands on experience in a lab. During this program high school students worked on and gained experience working on plant responses to drought. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentations Wu, Y.Q. 2022. Developing new bermudagrass varieties for the turf industry. Texas Winter Conference and Show by Texas Turfgrass Association. December 12-14, Denton, TX Wu, Y.Q. 2022. Updates on OSU bermudagrass development. 77thOklahoma Turf Conference. Nov 15. Zhang J., et al. 2023. Drone in sod production. Turfgrass producer international education conference. February 21, Nashville TN. Javier Rodriguez-Sanchez, et al. 2023. High throughput phenotyping of peanut crops using remote sensing and deep learning techniques. AI in Agriculture: innovation and discovery to equitably meet producer needs and perceptions. April 17-19, Orlando, FL. Jing Zhang, et al. Leveraging UAS-based RGB, hyperspectral images and machine learning in turfgrass breeding. AI in Agriculture: innovation and discovery to equitably meet producer needs and perceptions. April 17-19, Orlando, FL, 2023. Jerome Maleski, et al. UAS-based hyperspectral imagery and data science for cultivar improvement in peanuts. AI in Agriculture: innovation and discovery to equitably meet producer needs and perceptions. April 17-19, Orlando, FL, 2023. Jing Zhang, et al. Assessing turfgrass for drought resistance using Unmanned Aerial System based remote sensing. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting. November 6-9, Baltimore, MD, 2022. Ryan Earp, et al. Phone-app and drone-based imagery as new methods in evaluating turf coverage in advanced turf phenotyping. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting. November 6-9, Baltimore, MD, 2022. Xiang M., et al. 2022. Minimum Water requirements of warm-season turfgrasses cultivars and experimental selections. ASA-CSSA-SSA International Annual Meetings; Nov. 6-9, 2022; Baltimore, MD. Xiang M., et al. 2023. Minimum water requirements of warm-season turfgrasses cultivars and experimental selections. Southern Region ASHS Meeting; Feb. 3-5, 2023; Oklahoma City, OK. Arikilla, S., et al. 2023. Physiological Responses of Bermudagrasses under Drought Stress. Southern Region ASHS Meeting; Feb. 3-5, 2023; Oklahoma City, OK. J. Diaz, et al. 2023. Crop and Stress Coefficients for Warm-Season Turfgrasses. Texas Water Research Institute Water Daze Conference. College Station, TX. J. Diaz, et al. 2022. Consumptive Water Use of Warm-Season Lawn Grasses for the South-Central United States. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. Baltimore, MD. Dylan J. Clark, et al. 2023"How hot is too hot? High-throughput thermal limit phenotyping. Ecological Society of America annual meeting. Portland, Oregon Yu, X., et al. Genetic Resistance of Gray Leaf Spot in St. Augustinegrass: QTL mapping and Transcriptomics. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9, 2022. Weldt, C.E., et al. Transcriptomic changes in the roots of drought-tolerant and sensitive St. Augustinegrass genotypes exposed to drought stress. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9, 2022. Escalona, M.C., et al. 2022. Transcriptomic changes in the roots of drought-tolerant and sensitive St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum(Walt.) Kuntze] genoytpes exposed to drought stress. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9. Rockstad, G.B., et al. 2022. Assessing unmanned aerial vehicle-based imagery for breeding applications in St. Augustinegrass. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9. Rockstad, G.B., et al. 2022. Identification of QTL associated with drought resistance in St. Augustinegrass. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9. Houting, K.P., et al. 2022. Gaining insights into the polygenic inheritance of large patch resistance in zoysiagrass. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9. Houting, K.P., et al. 2022. Evaluation of a zoysiagrass mapping population for field performance and correlations with large patch resistance. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9. Gouveia, B., et al. 2022. Four warm-season turfgrass species under irrigation restrictions. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Baltimore, MD. Nov 6-9. Milla-Lewis, S.R. It's not just about looks: breeding for increased resilience in warm-season turfgrasses. 12thBrazilian Plant Breeding Conference. Caxambu, Brazil, August 22nd2023. Milla-Lewis, S.R. Making the grass greener (literally): breeding for stress tolerance in turfgrass. University of Georgia Institute for Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics. Columbus, GA, May 18th2023. Kenworthy, K. Varieties of zoysiagrass. Gramalegal. Tatui, Brazil, August 18, 2022. Kenworthy, K. Trends in turfgrass. Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association. Orlando, FL, August 25, 2022. Kenworthy, K. Plant Breeding at UF-IFAS. Marion County Farm Bureau Legislative Tour. PSREU, Citra, FL, October 12, 2022. Kenworthy, K. Zoysiagrass use and development in the U.S. and the University of Florida breeding program. South China Turfgrass Managers Association. Hong Kong, China, May 12, 2023. Kenworthy, K. Breeding to reduce irrigation needs in Florida lawns. Water Management Districts meeting, June 12, 2023. Kenworthy, K. Breeding bahiagrass and St. Augustinegrass. Florida Foundation Seed Annual Meeting, Apopka, FL, July 21. Field days Wu, Y.Q., B. Thapa Magar, M. Thomas, A. Poudel. 2023. Breeding drought resistant bermudagrass varieties. OK Turfgrass and Horticulture Field Day, Sept 20. Wu, Y.Q., J. Ogden, R. Earp, B. Thapa Magar. 2023. Developing water-smart turf bermudagrass varieties. OK Turfgrass and Horticulture Field Day, May 17. Xiang M.2022. Drought resistance of warm-season turfgrass-SCRI updates. 2022 OSU Cimarron Valley Research Station, July 2022 2023 Turfgrass Field Day at the Lake Wheeler Turfgrass Field Lab, Raleigh, NC, August 9, 2023. 2023 North Carolina Sod Producers Association Winter Meeting, Greensboro, NC, January 18th2023. October 12, 2022, Field Day, College Station, TX. 175 attendees. Presentation and display of field research plots for RFT and SSPN of four turf species at Turfgrass Reseach Field Day August 2022 held at the Griffin Campus Kenworthy, K. CitraZoy zoysiagrass for lawns. UF-IFAS FLREC turfgrass field day, March 30, 2023 Kenworthy, K. CitraZoy zoysiagrass for lawns. UF-IFAS WFREC turfgrass field day, June 14, 2023 Kenworthy, K. USDA-NIFA-SCRI zoysiagrass breeding for drought responses. UF-IFAS PSREU turfgrass field day, October 4, 2023. Social media @SCRI_Turf twitter account: 251 followers Xiang actively engaged in Twitter related to the water use field study, garnering an impressive reach of over 5,400 impressions and 177 engagements. Milla-Lewis Twitter account: 1,297 followers Kenworthy Twitter account: 917 followers UGA Tifton TurfTwitter account: 617followers Ambika ChandraTwitter account: 735 followers Bryan Unruh Twitter account: 2200 followers What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Obj 1:Planning the summer meeting at Raleigh NC in June 2024 and thefall annual meeting during ASA/CSSA meeting at San Antonio, TX inOctober 2024. Obj 2:The greenhouse study on water use of bermudagrass will be continued in 2024. Analyze lysimeter data and complete evapotranspiration calculations. Coordinate among locations with lysimeter studies (NSCU, TAMU, UF) to combine data and work towards publishing a paper on multi-location results. Publication on controlled environment screening of St. Augustinegrass in relation to fraction of transpirable soil water content is being prepared. Publications on screening of zoysiagrass under drought and heat stress are being prepared. Publication on mechanisms of drought tolerance in a collection of seashore paspalum genotypes is being prepared. Finish process the incoming UAS images and update the results on ArcGIS dashboard. Editing the training materials and making them available to the public. Obj 3: SSPN and Advanced Trials plots will be maintained to ensure completion of objectives.Shade and sod ancillary trials will be terminated in 2023. Dr. Beatriz Gouveia has initiated final data analysis for all SSPNs and Advanced Trails. Results will be uploaded on the project's web application (https://btgouveia.shinyapps.io/SCRI/) so that each breeder can make final decision on line advancement. Additionally, publication of results has been divided among members of the groups. It is expect that at least six manuscripts will be developed from objective 3 results and submitted for publication before the end of the project. Obj 4:Continue collecting data in the bermudagrass GWAS panel nursery and complete data analysis in 2024. Continue collecting data in the St. Augustinegrass GWAS panel nursery.Most likely manuscript(s) will be written from this project in early 2025. Finish QTL analysis for St. Augustinegrass, submit papers for QTL and transcriptomics analysis. Analysis of "Omics" data and integration of data sets will occur. Any additional follow-up experiments (e.g. qRT-PCR or targeted metabolite quantification) will occur. Obj 5:Three dissertation papers on homeowners' preference on turfgrass attributes using the April 2021 survey data (one is under consumers' risk behavior; the other two are under climate change scenarios). Working on three, five-minute social media videos hosted on YouTube that include interviews with scientists focused at three different audiences: 1) golf course superintendents, 2) homebuilders and 3) homeowners. Social media campaign targeting the societal impacts of saving water intended to drive viewers to TV video and YouTube videos.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj 1: The CAP team including industry advisory panel hold an annual meeting on Nov 7th, 2022 during Tri-society meeting at Baltimore, several monthly teleconferences and sub-objective teleconferences were held. Obj 2: Data collection of field lysimeters has been completed at NC, TX, and FL. This data will be used to determine crop and stress coefficients to better understand water use rates and improve irrigation scheduling. Data collection for minimal water requirements was continued at OK and GA. This datawill aid in quantifying the improvement in drought tolerance of advanced lines developed by the grant and improve irrigation recommendations. Controlled environment studies have been completed at FL (Zoysiagrass), TX (St. Augustinegrass), and GA (Seashore paspalum). Experiments are ongoing in OK (Bermudagrass). These studies are further exploring differences in drought tolerance among diverse collections of genotypes and underlying physiological factors responsible for these differences.UAS-images were collected from participating locations and uploaded to the server located at UGA-Tifton . The images were processed following the established workflow and the UAS-based traits were extracted. Images in the format of JPEG and extracted dataset were hosted through ArcGIS Dashboards which are publicly available. Obj 3: OSU: Data collected onbermudaandzoysiaApproach C trials and SSPNs.These data, especially those taken by the end of September 2022 are very valuable due the natural drought condition, which caused drought stress to many if not all entries. Stillwater evaluated zoysiaand bermudaentries for shade response. Data collection concluded with final observations made in September 2023.Bermudaand zoysiasod production trials were completedin 2023.Generated >2,000 new breeding lines and planted them into three selection nurseries. TAMUS:Drought stress was imposed on the SSPNand the advanced trial by withholding supplemental irrigation during summer growing months. Visual data was collected from the SSPNs and advanced trials on a monthly-basis in Dallas TX post establishment for traits such as turfgrass quality (normal and drydown), spring greenup, fall color, and other seasonal traits. NCSU:Continued evaluation of SSPNs and advanced trial for all four warm-season turfgrasses planted at the Sandhills Research Station. Continued evaluation of the St. Augustinegrass shade trial. Lines with superior ability to maintain density and color under 80% shade have been identified. UGA:Field evaluations for RFT and SSPN Bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, Zoysiagrass and Seashore Paspalum were successfully established in 2020 at the Griffin and Tifton locations. Following the 2020 grown-in, all plots have been non-irrigated and maintained under minimal maintenance.During periods of drought, quality ratings are taken weekly.The greatest separation of genotypes has been observed in zoysiagrass and in St. Augustinegrass. The salinity tolerance of 120 advanced lines produced from this group's 2015 CAP has been completed using greenhouse protocols. We are now processing data and summaries of these results will be available shortly.Shade tolerance of advanced lines have been evaluated under 60 % shade at Griffin and Tifton for the past three years. We have identified breeding lines with significantly better shade tolerance that is currently commercially available. UF:> 2,000 new seedlings of St. Augustinegrass, >2,000 new seedlings of zoysiagrass and > 1,000 new seedlings of bermudagrasswere planted in 2022-2023. SSPN and AppC trials of zoysiagrass, bermudagrass, seashore paspalum, and St. Augustinegrass were evaluated for turf quality with and without drought stress. Our location experience good periods without rain and was able to acquire meaning drought stress data. These trials were concluded in 2023. Shade trials were concluded in 2023 for zoysiagrass and seashore paspalum. Sod strength data was collected at WFREC by Dr. Unruh. Obj 4: Six copies of type I HKT genes and four copies of type II HKTs were identified from zysiagrass genome. Expression analysis suggest that zoysiagrass employs distinct mechanisms to cope with excess sodium under varying salinity stress levels.In an effort to explore deeper into the functions of HKT genes, we conducted in situ hybridization. However, due to the delicate structure of salt glands and the relatively low gene expression, our attempts at in situ hybridization did not yield successful results. Drought data of St. Augustinegrass mapping population was collected at summer of 2021, 2022 and 2023. Preliminary QTL were identified for drought traits. RNA-Seq data analysis of St. Augustinegrass leaf and root sample under drought stress is done, paper is wrapping up. The OSU team has completed the SNP marker discovery in the GWAS panel of 216 individuals of common bermudagrass. We collected data for visual turfgrass quality, light-box images, drone-images under non-drought and drought conditions in 2023. We have conducted a preliminary data analysis. Results indicated some significant signals in identifying genomic regions for drought responses and other traits (i.e., establishment et al.). St. Augustinegrass cultivar Raleigh was sequencing and assembled to chromosome scale. An additional assembly to chromosome scale was produced for a PI line St Augustinegrass. African Bermudagrass OKC 1163 was sequencing and assembled to chromosome scale. One haplotype level assembly (Tifway) and one contig level assembly (Tifgreen). UGA: Repeat growth chamber screenings were completed. Extractions and quality control for RNA and metabolites were performed. Samples are currently being processed (i.e. sequenced or subjected to LC-MS/MS) and awaiting data analysis. Obj 5: In all states, standard extension activities like field days, bulletins, online training, and workshops have been accomplished by turfgrass extension specialists at each University. It will be ongoing throughout the grant period. Consumer survey data have been analyzed in two ways: 1. Direct and indirect impact of aesthetic attributes on homeowners' preference on low-input attributes has been estimated; 2. The impact of additional risk from COVID 19 on homeowners' preference has been estimated by comparing estimates from pre- and post-COVID 19 periods. Two dissertation papers have been completed (currently in review for journal publication) Turfgrass professional's social networking behavior and its impact on the new turfgrass adoption were analyzed using a newly developed spatial modelling procedure. One dissertation paper has been completed (currently in review for journal publication) Extension professionals finished fifteen-minute educational segments highlighting this research and its economic-impact to air on RFD-TV, which reaches just over 47 million homes. Accomplished with 2 lesson plans, career awareness, and turfgrass programming on website, and will update in following year. Accomplished data visualization website for all materials developed, ranging from videos targeting the public to research papers targeting other researchers.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Yu, X., Lara, N. A. H., Carbajal, E. M., & Milla-Lewis, S. R. (2022). QTL mapping of morphological characteristics that correlated to drought tolerance in St. Augustinegrass. PLOS ONE, 17(5).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2023 Citation: Yu, S., C.H. Fontanier, D.L. Martin, J.Q. Moss, C.L. Goad, Y.Q. Wu. 2023. Effect of antecedent drought stress on spring green-up in turf-type bermudagrass. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ketchum, Cory; Miller, Grady; Pinnix, Garland. 2023. Stress coefficients for hybrid bermudagrass in the transition zone. Crop, Forage and Turfgrass Management. June. 9(1): p. 20212 [1-7].
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Miller, Grady. 2023. Predicting how little water bermudagrass needs to maintain quality. Golf Course Management. September. 91(9): p. 76-80.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hildebrand, K., C. Chung, T. Boyer, and M. Palmer. Does Change in Respondents Attention Matter in Estimating Willingness to Pay from Choice Experiments? Applied Economics (2022)
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ketchum, C. 2023. Development of Irrigation Coefficients in the Transition Zone. Thesis, North Carolina State University.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Yu, S.H., A.N. Schoonmaker, L.L. Yan, A.M. Hulse-Kemp, C.H. Fontanier, D.L. Martin, J.Q. Moss, and Y.Q. Wu. 2022. Genetic variability and QTL mapping of winter survivability and leaf firing in African bermudagrass. Crop Science. http://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20849
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rockstad, G.B., Austin, R.E., Tome Gouveia, B., Carbajal, E.M., and Milla-Lewis, S.R. 2023. Assessing unmanned aerial vehicle-based imagery for breeding applications in St. Augustinegrass under drought and non-drought conditions. Crop Science (in press)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gouveia, B., Chandra, A., Schwartz, B.M., Kenworthy, K.E., Raymer, P.L., Wu, Y., and Milla-Lewis, S.R. 2023. Warm-season turfgrass species genotype-by-environment interaction for turfgrass quality under drought. J. Agron. Crop Sci. (in press).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Schoonmaker, A., Yu, X., Van der Laat, R., Glaubitz, J., Thorsted, K., Robbins, M., Bushman, S., Simpson, S., Scheffler, B., Lynch, N., Ranney, T., Milla-Lewis, S.R., and Hulse-Kemp, A. ND. A whole genome assembly of St. Augustinegrass and visualizing diversity within the species. The Plant Genome. (in review)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: " Katuwal, K. B., Jespersen, D., Bhattarai, U., Chandra, A., Kenworthy, K. E., Milla-Lewis, S. R., . . . Raymer, P. (2022). Multilocational screening identifies new drought-tolerant, warm-season turfgrasses. CROP SCIENCE, 62(4), 1614-1630. doi:10.1002/csc2.20726&)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Cox, K. D.G, Kenworthy, K. E., Erickson, J., Rios, E., & Unruh, J. B. 2022. Effects of polyethylene glycol on root and shoot production in zoysiagrasses. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, 14, 250 255. https://doi.org/10.1002/its2.111
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: " Brown, J.M., Escalona Weldt, C., Holloway, H.M.P., Tuong, T.D., Patton, A.J., DaCosta, M., Livingston, D.P., Yu, X., and Milla-Lewis, S.R. ND. A transcriptomic analysis of zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica) provides novel insights into the molecular basis of cold acclimation. Grass Research (accepted)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: T. Pirtle, M. Chavarria, J. Erickson, K. Kenworthy, K. Cox, B. Unruh, J. Kruse, B. Cardenas-Lilicar, M. Dukes, S. Milla-Lewis, A. Chandra, B. Wherley, J. Moss, M. Chavarria Sanchez. Effects of St. Augustinegrass Genotype and Reduced Irrigation on Turfgrass Quality in a Subtropical Environment. 2022. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/its2.134


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Audiences communicated with include: municipal administrators, water management district personnel, sod producers, lawn maintenance professionals, landscape architects, golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, turfgrass scientists, county agents, master gardeners and home owners. Changes/Problems: OSU: Wu's group field technician, Mr. Bradley Battershell left on September 12, 2022. A new technician will be hired to fill the position this fall. Dr. Mingying Xiang joined the OSU research team and began working with Moss and team on objectives 2 and 5 in June 2022. The shade trial at TAMU was lost due to severe winterkill. At UGA, initial delays in establishment of plant materials for sod harvesting ancillary traits has pushed the trial back until 2023. For objective 4 at UGA,additional crosses between seashore paspalum with varying papilla sizes also failed. We have therefore shifted our focus to studying the leaf characteristics of zoysiagrass, a salt-secreting grass. Obj. 5: Identifying timelines for steering committees' meetings in the spring will pose challenges as turfgrass professionals face heavy time constraints in the spring of each year. It is likely that these committee meetings will continue to be held virtually. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? TAMU: Training and professional development of Baoxin Chang (post-doctoral researcher), Jose Diaz (MS Student) in physiology studies, Haomin Lyu and Zixiao Zhao (post-doctoral researchers) in genomics and plant molecular biology, Meghyn Meeks (post-doctoral scientist) in turfgrass breeding and high-throughput phenotyping. OSU: 1) Three undergraduate students and two graduate students in Wu lab. Two undergraduate and one graduate students in Moss and Xiang group. Two graduate and one undergraduate students in Fontanier lab. UGA: Obj. 2 A/B Graduate students were trained in aspects of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and presentation of scientific data. Student's were given the opportunity to give presentation at scientific meetings and field days. Obj. 2C: A series of online trainings emphasizing on hands-on experience for UAS-based image processing and analysis were conducted. The attendees included graduate students, student workers, technicians and faculties from participating universities. Obj 4: One PhD student, Shreena Pradhan, and one post-doc, John Spiekerman, received training on the project. Obj. 5: Graduate students Barbara Worley, and Isaac Beacorn received training on Focus Group research methods, qualitative research methods, qualitative sampling, poster creation, symposium presentation, conference presentation, research article development, and artifact development. NCSU: Greta Rockstad defended her MS thesis on high-throughput phenotypic tools and QTL mapping for drought tolerance in St. Augustinegrass. Carolina Weldt started an MS degree on GWAS and UAS phenotyping for drought tolerance traits in St. Augustinegrass. Postdoc Beatriz Tome Gouveia continue to lead the analysis of breeding data and development for visualization tools. Ph.D candidate Ashley Schoonmaker continued her dissertation work on generation of high-quality reference genome assemblies. Trained undergraduate summer interns Rebecca Flannigan in the use and operation of UAVs and Emma Simpson in evaluation of breeding nurseries and trials. Trained undergraduate students Madison Lawson and Chloe Williams in molecular marker work. UF: An undergraduate researcher, Dylan Clark, has been supported as a paid researcher for this past year. The project supported one graduate student, one post-doc and six undergraduate students in the past year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presentations: C.A. Segars. 2022. Turfgrass Management with Water in Mind. Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. San Antonio, TX. August 10. B. Wherley. 2022. Overcoming Water Issues Developing a Statewide ET Network. Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. San Antonio, TX. August 10. B. Wherley. 2022. Texas County Extension Agents Turfgrass Facilty Tour of Current Research. College Station, TX. May 19. B. Wherley and J. Young. 2022. Data-Driven Irrigation Management. Golf Industry Show Half Day Seminar. San Diego, CA. February 11. B. Wherley and C. Straw. 2021. Texas A&M Turfgrass Research Program. Research facility tour provided for Texas A&M AgriLife Contracts Office Team. August 19. Wu presented the USDA SCRI research and Approach C results to attendants at the 76thOklahoma Turf Conference, Nov 16, 2021; the 35thAnnual Turf & Irrigation Conference of West Texas GCSAA online Zoom, Oct 27, 2021; and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Golf Course Superintendents Educational Seminar. February 16, 2021; Martin conducted seven turf master gardener training programs in which new drought resistant cultivars developed by the multi-state project were discussed. Jing Zhang, et al. "Initiating UAS-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping in Turfgrass Multi-Location Variety Trials across Southeastern U.S." ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting. November 7-10, Salt Lake City, UT, 2021. Ravneet Kaur, et al. "Quantifying drought avoidance in zoysiagrass" ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting. November 7-10, Salt Lake City, UT, 2021. Krishna Katuwal and David Jespersen "Proteomic analysis for drought tolerance in seashore paspalum" ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting. November 7-10, Salt Lake City, UT, 2021. Ravneet Kaur, et al. "Rooting patterns, leaf water content and leaf gas exchange as important determinant of drought performance in zoysiagrass" UGA Plant Center Annual Retreat. Poster David Jespersen "What makes certain turfgrasses more drought tolerant and how much water do they need?" Georgia Golf Environment Foundation - Georgia superintendents research update. Shreena Pradhan, et al. (2022) Analysis of leaf surface traits in seashore paspalum. CROPS2022 meeting, June 13-16, 2022, Huntsville, Alabama. Poster. Krishna Katuwal and David Jespersen. "Metabolomic analysis of drought tolerance in seashore paspalum" ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting. November 7-10, Salt Lake City, UT, 2021. Poster. Worley, B., et al. (2022).Behavioral Intentions for Using Social Media for Communicating Turfgrass Innovations. Proceedings annual southern region conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, New Orleans, LA. Poster Evaluation of advanced lines under salinity stress was a part of the presentation at Southern California Golf & Water Summit held in Chino Hills, CA on August 18, 2022. Miller, G.L. Developing Drought Stress Coefficients. ASA Meeting. 8 November 2021. Salt Lake City, Utah. Miller, G.L. Using BMPs for Athletic Fields. Southeast Regional Sports Turf Conference. 17 November 2021. Myrtle Beach, SC. Miller, G.L. Center Program Highlights 2021. Turfgrass Center 5-year Review. 18 October 2021. Miller, G.L. Selecting the Best Turfgrasses for NC. Green and Grow. Greensboro, NC. 12 January 2022. Miller, G.L. Selecting the Best Turfgrasses for NC. Eastern NC Landscape Conference. Wilson, NC. 8 February 2022; Johnston County Regional Turfgrass Conference. Smithfield, NC. 25 February 2022; Guilford County Regional Turfgrass Conference. Greensboro, NC. 8 March 2022. Miller, G.L. Turfgrass Selection for NC. New Hanover Regional Turfgrass Conference. 16 February 2022. Miller, G.L. "Turfgrass Selection for Drought", MG Training Mecklenburg County, 22 February 2022 and Durham County, 24 March 2022; NC Turfgrass Short Course, Raleigh, NC. 11-14 April 2022. Miller, G.L. Turfgrass Clippings for the last 5 years. Department Seminar. 20 April 2022. Miller, G.L. What is New in Turfgrasses and Turfgrass Management? Wilmington Regional Turfgrass Conference. 6 June 2022. Miller, G.L. Developing Stress Coefficients. Turfgrass Center Symposium. 21 June 2022. Miller, G.L. Water Requirements of Turfgrass Systems. GIC Water Symposium. Raleigh, NC. 21 July 2022. Yu, X., and Milla-Lewis, S.R. 2021. A transcriptomic analysis of St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) provides novel insights into the basis of drought tolerance. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Salt Lake City, UT. Nov 5-9. Gouveia, B., et al. 2021. Warm-season turfgrass species performance under drought. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Salt Lake City, UT. Nov 5-9. Rockstad, G.B., et al.2021. Assessing unmanned aerial vehicle-based imagery for data collection in St. Augustinegrass. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Salt Lake City, UT. Nov 5-9. Walton County (Florida) Master Gardener Training, September 22, 2022. Jacksonville Landscape and Nursery trade show, January 2022 Southeast Pest Management Conference, April 2022 Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association, August 2022 Clark, D.J., et al, "Intraspecific ecophysiological responses to compound heat and drought stress in a C4 grass." Specialty Crop Research Initiative Annual Conference. Oral Presentation. September, 2022. Field days: October 6, 2021, field day in Dallas Texas with 165 in attendance; Oklahoma State University Turfgrass & Landscape Field Day, May 18, 2022; 2022 UGA Turfgrass Research Field Day held August 3, 2022; The UCR Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day took place on September 15, 2022; NCSU 2022 Lake Wheeler Turfgrass Field Day, August 10 with 750 in attendance; Santa Rosa County (Florida) Master Gardener Training / Research Plot Tour, October 21, 2021; Water use rates of St. Augustinegrass. Dr. Kevin Kenworthy, South Florida Turfgrass Expo; UF Turfgrass Breeding & Cultivar Development, Dr. Kevin Kenworthy, Gulf Coast Turfgrass Expo & Field Day, Jay, FL. June 15, 2022; Jackson County (Florida) Master Gardener Training / Research Plot Tour, April 13, 2022. Social media AggieTurf Website: https://aggieturf.tamu.edu - which also houses all Extension publications for the AggieTurf program. AggieTurf Facebook Page: 2,968 Followers AggieTurf Twitter: 2,263 Followers Segars Twitter: 1,082 Followers Bowling Twitter: 1,362 Followers Wu shared the SCRI Approach C information on a Twitter account with 1965 followers. Xiang shared the SCRI research Approach 2b on Twitter. Big differences in drought response in zoysiagrass and St. Augustinegrass. Plots are part of the @SCRI_Turf drought studies. No rain in the past 25 days; 50.54" YTD prior to that. Sandy Loam Soils. @kekenworthy @NCTurfBreeding @ChandraAmbika - October 5, 2022 - 2,046 impressions; 148 engagements Happening now - first ever #UFTurfTeam turfgrass field day tour for Spanish speaking landscapers. @kekenworthy being translated by intern Fernanda Arevalo who is from El Salvador. - March 31, 2022 - 5,252 impressions; 171 engagements Friday afternoon walkabout on the turf plots. - November 12, 2021 - 3,768 impressions; 255 engagements Other Chat With Green Aggies (CWGA) Chat with Green Aggies is a group of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension specialists providing research-based information to the Texas green industry. Dr. Segars and Dr. Bowling spoke about SCRI developed cultivars during at least 5 turfgrass sessions during 2021/2022. Segars et al., - conducting a WaterMyYard (AgriLife Extension Effort) project in collaboration with North Texas Municipal Water District to evaluate current water recommendations based on 60% ET return. Martin conducted approximately 150 consultations where information on new drought resistant bermudagrasses and zoysiagrasses was conveyed to golf course, sod farm, public park, and residential lawn use-sites were involved. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1: Planning the summer meeting at Riverside CA at Sep 2022, fall annual meeting during ASA/CSSA meeting at Baltimore at Nov. 2022. Objective 2: OSU: Complete the current greenhouse physiology study and present the results in ASA crop science national meeting in 2022. UGA: 2A/B-Field screening will continue through the 2023 growing season to build upon multiple years field of data. Final growth chamber experiment and analysis will be completed to better understand mechanisms of drought tolerance in seashore paspalum. 2C: Continue collecting UAS images in all the participating locations, processing images and extracting structured data for turfgrass traits. Prepare the dataset to a ready-to-deliver manner and integrate it into a data visualization product. Prepare manuscript. NCSU: 2A- Collect data on lysimeter studies for a third year. 2C- Continue to collect UAV data and develop analytical pipeline necessary to scale and expand the use of drone technology in turf breeding. UF: Preparation of a manuscript on compound hotter-drought stress impacts on zoysiagrass. This will include analysis of data from the zoysiagrass hotter-drought experiment (led by Dylan Clark), and drafting of a manuscript for publication. Aim is to submit this manuscript for peer-review to a journal by mid-2023. The lead author will be Dylan Clark, Senior Author Hammond, including many SCRI personnel who supported the work. Objective 3: TAMU: Continue drought stress on the 2020 SSPNs and advanced trial for all four warm-season turfgrass species; continue data collection on the SSPN and advanced trials. OSU: Continue the research as planned in the SCRI proposal. Conduct sod strength measurements for zoysiagrass as planned in the SCRI proposal. UGA: 3A: Breeding programs in Griffin and Tifton continue to generate new crosses to further the development of new lines. 3B: Field plots of SSPN entries have been established for the four warm-season grass species. These plots will continue to be monitored for genotypic differences in turf quality and for drought tolerance at the Griffn, GA and Tifton, GA locations. 3C: Evaluation of replicated field trials (RFT); Previously established trials will be monitored for differences in drought tolerance, quality and other significant traits of importance. We will complete salt screening of the zoysiagrass RFT lines. Continue to evaluate the shade tolerance of seashore paspalum RFT entries in our field shade study. Completion of trials related to sod production traits. UCR: 1) Evaluation of experimental genotypes in single space plant nurseries (SSPN) will continue. Data will be collected throughout 2022 and 2023 and another period of drought will be initiated in the summer of 2023. 2) Evaluation of experimental genotypes of advanced lines will continue. Data will be collected throughout 2022 and 2023 and another period of drought will be initiated in the summer of 2023. 3) Evaluation of experimental genotypes of advanced lines under salinity stress will continue. Data will be collected throughout 2022 and 2023 and another period of irrigation with saline water will be initiated in the summer of 2023. UF: The breeding program will continue to make crosses with breeding lines evaluated in this project as having improved drought responses. Restricted Irrigation: During periods of natural drought, data will be collected with no resumption of irrigation in 2023. Data will continue to be collected on SSPN, Approach C and shade trials of all four species. Sod Strength: An initial harvest may still be conducted in 2022 depending on maturity. If the majority of plots are not deemed mature, the initial harvest will take place following spring green-up in 2023. NCSU: Continue data collection on the 2020 SSPNs and advanced trials for bermudagrass, zoysiagrass and St. Augustinegrass; continue data collection on the St. Augustinegrass shade trial; continue generation of new hybrids. Objective 4: OSU: Continue the research as planned in the SCRI proposal. UGA: 4A - We will apply the machine-learning approaches to phenotype a large zoysiagrass F2 mapping population, generated by Brian Schwartz from a cross between Z. matrella acc. PI 231146 and Z. japonica acc. Meyer. The mapping population has been genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing. We are also planning to resequence the parents of the mapping population to obtain the variant portfolio for future candidate gene identification and validation. 4B- Analysis of metabolomics and transcriptomics data will performed to understand common pathways associated with drought tolerance in elite lines. NCSU: We will continue taking drought data from field evaluation in 2023 summer. QTL analysis for field drought traits will be conducted. RNA-Seq of root data will be finalized. Paper of drought RNA-Seq on both leaf and root samples will be completed. A new St. Augustinegrass GWAS study has been initiated that includes a large collection of diver St. Augustinegrass germplasm. WGS will be conducted during the winter-spring. Phenotypic data on establishment was collected last summer, plots will be evaluated for drought tolerance through 2024. Objective 5: TAMU: 1) Plan to conduct more outreach presentations on newly developed cultivars with best management practices for the Texas landscape. 2) Showcase SCRI plots and data at the 2022 Texas A&M Turfgrass Field Day UGA: 5A - Testing communication artifacts and communication channels with the Media and Turfgrass Professionals to identify communication channels and create media artifacts for different audiences: television spots, websites, social media, press releases, extension bulletins, etc. Utilize KeyPlayers that are identified to maximize the impact of educational media and trainings to increase impact on the turfgrass network and subsequent strata of the network. Utilize, test, and refine the Decision-Making Model in Agricultural and Natural Resources to create a more efficient and reusable model for turfgrass professionals to increase impact on the turfgrass network and subsequent strata of the network. 5C: Host data and model on online repository. Have this model available as an active cloud hosted tool available through Microsoft planetary computer. Publish Journal paper. UF: Co-PIs Unruh and Kenworthy will continue to include research results in various presentations given to professional and consumer presentations. Continue to promote project via social media posts. NCSU: Dr. Grady Miller will continue to conduct more outreach presentations on newly developed cultivars with best management practices for North Carolina. 2) Drs. Miller and Milla-Lewis will continue to showcase all SCRI research during the 2023 Lake Wheeler Turfgrass Field Day.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The CAP team including industry advisory panel held an annual virtual meeting in December 2021, several monthly teleconferences, and sub-objective teleconferences. A) Continue data collection on water use measurements by weighing lysimeters in the field to calculate crop coefficients for St. Augustinegrass, zoysiagrass, seashore paspalum and bermudagrass breeding lines and controls at TAMU, UF and NCSU. Variation in ET rates have been observed. Crop (Kc) ad stress (Ks) coefficeints have been calculated for all four species. Data from 2022 and 2023 seasons will then be analyzed in preparation for publication. B) Analyze data from 2021 and 2022 greenhouse drought evaluations on St. Augustinegrass at TAMU, bermudagrass at OSU, seashore paspalum at UGA, and zoysiagrass at UF, and prepare peer review publication. C) UAS images were collected during this time period on replicated field trial and single space plant nursery in six participating locations including Tifton (GA), Griffin (GA), Citra (FL), Sandhills (NC), Dallas (TX), and Stillwater (OK). Collected images were processed and structured data were extracted for further analysis. A series of online training were conducted to equip relevant personnel with skills to process UAS-based images and analyze the generated orthomosaic. Provided support for the participating location on their UAS phenotyping activities. A) SSPNs and Advanced Trials: evaluation of single space plant nurseries in seven participating locations including Tifton (GA), Griffin (GA), Citra (FL), Sandhills (NC), Dallas (TX), Riverside (CA), and Stillwater (OK)and advanced trial for all four warm-season turfgrasses continued through 2022.B) Ancillary trials: Shade trail evlauations continued at all locations except Dallas, TX where the trial had to be terminated due to severe winterkill. At UGA, salt tolerance screening in greenhouse conditions has been completed for bermudagrass, seashore paspalum and St. Augustinegrass. At UCR field salinity trials, with saline water was started again this year on July 6, 2022, at electroconductivity (EC) level of 4.4 dSm-1. Data on Turfgrass Quality under salinity stress and Leaf Firing was collected.Sod strength: An initial harvest of St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass to evaluate sod strength was conducted in October 2022 at NCSU. At OSU, sod tensile strength and sod handling quality evaluations were performed on bermudagrass advanced lines in July 2022.At UF, sod tensile evaluations had to be postponed to 2023 because theplots were not fully mature this year. C) Development of new materiasl: New seedlings from all four species continued to be geberated by all breedings programs. Best selections from the progeny were transplanted to selection nurseries for evaluation over three years. TAMU: 1) Identified 6 copies of type I HKT genes and 4 copies of type II HKTs in zoysiagrass genome. Investigated the expression patterns of HKT genes in salt toleranceZoysia metrellavariety 'Diamond' and relatively salt sensitiveZoysia japonicavariety 'Meyer' under different salinity conditions. Result indicates that zoysiagrass utilize different mechanisms to deal with excessive sodium under different levels of salinity stress. 2) Performed comparative genomics analysis between subgenomes within the zoysiagrass genome and between zoysiagrass and other major grass genomes. Result indicates differential gene retention and functional divergence between the two subgenomes after the polyploidization event.NCSU: 1) Mapping population of St. Augustinegrass was planted at Sandhill research station, drought evaluation underway for this season and next season. 2) A linkage map was constructed from total of 12,269 SNPs, representing the densest St. Augustinegrass linkage map to date. 3) Thirteen QTL were identified for drought traits, regions of overlap from this study and previous St. Augustinegrass drought resistance studies were found on chromosomes 3, 4, 6, and 9. 4) RNA-Seq data analysis of St. Augustinegrass leaf sample under drought stress is done, paper is wrapping up. Analysis of RNA-Seq data on root samples is underway.OSU: 1) Established one nursery of 216 entries in a randomized complete block design with three replications in summer 2022. Selected traits including morphological responses to drought stress will be evaluated in the nursery. Leaf samples of the experimental entries have been sent to the Biotechnology Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison for genotyping-by-sequencing to generate SNP markers.USDA: 1) St. Augustinegrass cultivar Raleigh was sequencing and assembled to chromosome scale. An additional assembly to chromosome scale was produced for a PI line St Augustinegrass. 2) African Bermudagrass OKC 1163 was sequencing and assembled to chromosome scale. 3) 1 haplotype level assembly (Tifway) and 1 contig level assembly (Tifgreen).UGA: 1) Generation of a new seashore paspalum F2mapping population was failed. 2) Applying machine-learning to assist with phenotyping for measuring salt gland density in zoysiagrass. The results look very promising with a correlation >90% between automated and manual counting of salt glands. 3) Comparative RNAseq analyses in seashore paspalum complemented with proteome and metabolite data. 4) Integrated Pathway analysis: Initial growth chamber experiment for multi-omics identification of candidate genes associated with drought was performed in the winter of 2022. The trial included 10 genotypes across the target species, including commercial standards and genotypes with improved drought tolerance developed through this program. A repeat trial in growth chambers in being conducted in the Fall of 2022. A)Extension activities: a number of presentations, trainings, field days and other activities were generated by different members of the project across institutions. Those can be found under the dissemination of results section of this report. B) Outreach: Produce extension-outreach programs to promote newly developed cultivars, Media Professional Steering Committee meeting, Turfgrass Specialist Steering Committee members meeting, Steering committee focus group perceptions research published, SCRI Turf project website for education and communication of findings maintained (https://site.caes.uga.edu/scriturf/), Social media channels maintained (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), Creating artifacts for social media channels, Build followers for social media channels. 2)Traditional extension activities supporting the project and associated objective, 20+ extension talks to practitioners and agents, 12+ talks to home owners and master gardeners, 2 fields days, 4 talks with regulatory or policy making bodies, 5 radio or tv programs. 3) Survey of land area:Survey data for 5 cities Raleigh, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Oklahoma City. 15,000 sq. miles of urban area are labeled at 60cm resolution with 5 landcover categories: trees, low vegetation / turf, water, built environment, bare soil.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Yu, X., Lara, N.H., Carbajal, E.M., and Milla-Lewis, S.R. 2022. QTL Mapping of Morphological Characteristics that Correlated to Drought Tolerance in St. Augustinegrass. PLOS ONE 17(5): e0268004
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Xu, Y., J. Zhang, J. Zhao, J. Song, Q. Yu. 2021. An improved virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system in zoysiagrass. In: RNA-based technologies for functional genomics in plants, edited by G. Tang, S. Teotia, X. Tang, D. Singh. Springer. Pp 155-168.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: T. Pirtle, M. Chavarria, J. Erickson, K. Kenworthy, K. Cox, B. Unruh, J. Kruse, B. Cardenas-Lilicar, M. Dukes, S. Milla-Lewis, A. Chandra, B. Wherley, J. Moss, M. Chavarria Sanchez. Effects of St. Augustinegrass Genotype and Reduced Irrigation on Turfgrass Quality in a Subtropical Environment. 2022. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/its2.134
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: B. Chang, B. Wherley, and A. Chandra, K. Kenworthy, and S. Milla-Lewis. 2021. Characterization of Drought Tolerance Mechanisms in St. Augustinegrass Cultivars and Experimental Lines. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: J. Diaz, B. Wherley, K. McInnes, and C. Straw. 2022. Consumptive Water Use of Warm-Season Lawn Grasses for the South-Central United States. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Yu, S.H., A.N. Schoonmaker, L.L. Yan, A.M. Hulse-Kemp, C.H. Fontanier, D.L. Martin, J.Q. Moss, and Y.Q. Wu. Genetic variability and QTL mapping of winter survivability and leaf firing in African bermudagrass. Crop Science. (Accepted as of September 1, 2022)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Gopinath, L., J.Q. Moss, Y.Q. Wu, and B. Schwarz. Drought response of ten bermudagrass genotypes under field and controlled environments. Agrosystems, Geosciences, & Environment. (Accepted as of July 19, 2022).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Yu, S.H., H. Dong, T. Fang, and Y.Q. Wu. 2022. Comparative analysis reveals chromosome number reductions in the evolution of African bermudagrass (Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt-Davy). Genome. doi.org/10.1139/gen-2021-0122
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hildebrand, K., C. Chung, T. Boyer, and M. Palmer. Does Change in Respondents Attention Matter in Estimating Willingness to Pay from Choice Experiments? Applied Economics (Accepted in August 2022)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Vines, P.* and J. Zhang. High-throughput plant phenotyping for improved turfgrass breeding applications. 2022. Grass Research 2: 1 doi: 10.48130/GR-2022-0001
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bremer, D., Sullivan, D., Vines, P., McCall, D., Zhang, J. and M. Hong. 2022 (in press). Considerations with using Unmanned Aircraft Systems in turfgrass. Michael Fidanza (Eds.), In Achieving sustainable turfgrass management. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Katuwal, K. B., Jespersen, D., Bhattarai, U., Chandra, A., Kenworthy, K. E., Milla-Lewis, S. R., . . . Raymer, P. (2022). Multilocational screening identifies new drought-tolerant, warm-season turfgrasses. CROP SCIENCE, 62(4), 1614-1630. doi:10.1002/csc2.20726
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: Worley, B., Peake, J., & Fuhrman, N. (20xx). Challenging the linear approach: Effective and efficient communication of agricultural innovations. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. (In Review).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: Worley, B., Fuhrman, N., & Peake, J. (20xx). Identifying the Behavioral Intent to Use Social Media through the application of UTAUT in ANR and Turfgrass Extension. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension. (In Review)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2022 Citation: Worley, B., Fuhrman, N., & Peake, J. (2022). Perceptions of agricultural extension and communication professionals regarding current, preferred, and emerging communication channels: A qualitative study. Journal of Agricultural Education. (In Press).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Cox, K. D., Kenworthy, K. E., Erickson, J., Rios, E., & Unruh, J. B. (2022). Effects of polyethylene glycol on root and shoot production in zoysiagrasses. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, 14, 250 255. https://doi.org/10.1002/its2.111
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Pirtle, T., Chavarria, M. R., Erickson, J. E., Kenworthy, K. E., Cox, K., Unruh, J. B., Kruse, J., Cardena, B., Dukes, M., Milla-Lewis, S., Chandra, A., Wherley, B., & Moss, J. (2022). Effects of St. Augustinegrass genotype and irrigation frequency on turfgrass quality in a subtropical environment. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, 14, 683 693. https://doi.org/10.1002/its2.134


Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Audiences communicated with include: municipal administrators, water management district personnel, sod producers, lawn maintenance professionals, landscape architects, golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, turfgrass scientists, county agents, master gardeners and home owners. Changes/Problems: TAMU: 1) Covid 19 university shutdown at TAMU led to delays in progress towards year 1 project goals, but things are beginning to catch back up, and we should be in decent shape to meet our assigned objectives after this season. 2) A severe hailstorm damaged the turf greenhouses at TAMU, and are finally being repaired. This has delayed initiation of drought mechanisms research, but we should be able to catch up by late fall 2021. OSU: As all plants of the SSPN seashore paspalum and St. Augustinegrass nurseries were completely winterkilled, data collection in the two nurseries has not been continued since the spring of 2021. UGA: 1) Several delays have occurred (largely due to the pandemic), these have included field trials started later in the year than originally planed (due to materials that had late planting dates in the previous year needing to finish establishing in field plots), as well as delays in hiring graduate students to work on specific objectives (i.e. candidate gene identification). While there have been some delays in the completion of experiments, we still believe we can accomplish the proposed objectives. 2) All crosses between PI 299042 and HI10 failed, indicating that a crossability barrier exists between these two lines. We are now attempting to generate crosses between other parental lines that vary in leaf structure, including papilla size and salt tolerance. 3) Identifying timelines for steering committees' meetings in the spring will pose challenges as turfgrass professionals face heavy time constraints in the spring of each year. It is likely that with COVID-19 limiting travel and time constraints that these committee meetings will continue to be held virtually. UF: Drought and salinity trials were initiated later than planned due to slower establishment of zoysiagrass and pest infestation. NCSU: Several delays occurred due to the pandemic. A few field trials started later in the year than originally planned. However, we still believe we can accomplish the proposed objectives USDA: Due to conronavirus affecting labs, scaffolding to generate pseudomolecules had to be changed from completion with BioNano technology to scaffolding with linkage maps for St. Augustinegrass. Savings from this effort will allow for sequencing a second St. Augustinegrass which is included in the disease resistance study. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? TAMU: Training and professional development of Baoxin Chang (post-doctoral researcher), Reagan Hejl (PhD student/techician), Jose Diaz (MS Student) in physiology studies, Haomin Lyu and Zixiao Zhao (post-doctoral researchers) in genomics and plant molecular biology, Tianyi Wang and Meghyn Meeks (post-doctoral researcher and scientists) in turfgrass breeding and high-throughput phenotyping. OSU: 1) Two graduate students from Wu lab have been trained to work in breeding and genomics research. Shuhao Yu graduated in December, 2020. Ryan Earp helped on data collection. Two MS graduate students from Fontanier lab (Alyssa Counce and Anmol Kajla) have been trained on work related to shade physiology, with both graduated August 2021. Two MS graduate students from Moss lab (Charanpreet Kaur and Sehijpreet Kaur) have been trained to work related to drought performance cultivar evaluation. Charanpreet Kaur graduated in August 2021. Sehijpreet Kaur helped in data collection. Two Ph.D. students from Chung's research team (Hyojae Jung and Joohun Han) have been trained for estimating economic effect of new turfgrass development and factors affecting the effect. 2) Colten Martin and Kellen King worked on this project. Three undergraduate research interns (Ashton Franks, Abigail Hobbs, Peyton Baggs) contributed to shade and sod field trials. Ms. Baily Lockhart, Ms. Brooklyn Evans, Ms. Gracie Hladik and Ms. Kailyn Twyman worked on the controlled environment and field trials. 3) Dr. Lakshmy Gopinath (post-doc) worked on data collection from the controlled environment physiology and field trials. UCR: The project has provided training in conducting field studies for our graduate student and information about advantages and possibilities of using warm-season turfgrass species in Southern California for landscapers, other professionals and general audience through a webinar at the Landscape Expo Academy in January 2021. UGA: Provided training and professional development for 3 graduate students (Qianqian Fan, Ravneet Kaur, Krishna Katuwal) in establishment of plants for both field and pots studies, experimental design, data collection, and analysis of data. One graduate student (Katherine Catching) in experimental design and field layout, organization of plant materials, field maintenance, data collection, and greenhouse propagation. Program technical staff and student workers also received similar training. One technical staff received training on image capture using a UAV. One PhD student, Shreena Pradhan, and one post-doc, John Spiekerman, in genomic projects. Barbara Worley (graduate student) and Edy Copeland (Undergraduate student)- Receiving training on Focus Group research methods, qualitative research methods, qualitative sampling, symposium presentation, conference presentation, research article written.- Received training on Focus Group research methods, qualitative research methods, qualitative sampling, poster creation, symposium presentation, conference presentation. Dr. Nick Fuhrman - Consultation with Dr. Taylor Ruth (author) of seminal article used as theoretical framework for this study. NCSU: Postdoc Beatriz Tome Gouveia was hired in breeding program to analyze field and research data. MS student Greta Rockstad was trained to working on developing mapping population and high-throughput phenotypic tools. Rotation Ph.D student Nico Lara was trained to collect morphological data from field trials. MS Student Cory Ketchum on water use and drought tolerance data collection training. Ph.D student Ashley Schoonmaker was trained to generate high-quality reference genome assemblies, perform linkage mapping and proper experimental design. In addition, multiple graduate students and research technicians were trained in the safe and proper use of UAV technology, best practices and proper workflows to operate and collect data using drone technology, process imagery in photogrammetry software, use GIS and image classification to summarize results, use programming languages such as R and python to view and process imagery. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentations C. Segars. Offered at least 37 outreach presentations involving cultivar performance and variety selection. C. Segars. Offered three county agent trainings and 10 master gardener presentations. B. Wherley. 2021. Technologies & Tools for Improving Lawn Irrigation Management. Texas Nursery and Landscape Association Water & Pest Workshop. Virtual. May 14. Invited. B. Wherley. 2020. Deficit Irrigation as a Strategy for Golf Course Water Conservation. West Texas GCSA/ TCEQ Irrigators Education Session. October 28. Invited. B. Wherley. 2020. Turfgrass Research at Texas A&M that Benefits the Golf Course Superintendent. West Texas GCSA/ TCEQ Irrigators Education Session. October 27. Invited. B. Wherley. 2020. Texas A&M Turfgrass Research Update for Sports Field Managers. Texas Turfgrass Association Summer Meeting. July 21. Invited. Yu, Q. 2020. Genome evolution in zoysiagrass. Oct. 28, 2020, Department of Plant Pathology & Microbiology Seminar Series, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA B. Bowling. Offered at least 24 outreach presentation involving cultivar performance and variety selection. B. Bowling. Offered 5 Master Gardener presentations and 6 presentations specifically for green industry professionals including landscape architects, turfgrass producers and other land care operators. Kajla, A., C. Fontanier, L. Zhang, Y.Q. Wu, A. Chandra, B. Schwartz, and S. Milla-Lewis. 2020. Effect of low light conditions on photosynthetic parameters of selected warm-season turfgrasses. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Meetings. Kaur, C, J. Moss, Y. Wu, and D. Martin. 2020. Differences in rooting characteristics of bermudagrass cultivars and OSU experimental genotypes. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Meetings. Jung, H., and C. Chung. 2021. Estimating Consumers' Preference on Improved Turfgrass Attributes Considering Adverse Effects on Aesthetic Values. AAEA Annual Conference, Austin, TX, August 1-3. Han, J., C. Chung, and Wu. 2021. Effects of Social Networking on the Adoption of New Turfgrass Varieties. AAEA Annual Conference, Austin, TX, August 1-3. Zhang, J., Austin, R., Wang, T., Maleski, J., Milla-Lewis, S.R., Chandra, A., Moss, J.Q., Wu, Y., Kenworthy, K., Raymer, P., and B.M. Schwartz. Developing UAS Based High-throughput Phenotyping Tools in Turfgrass Variety Trials. SCRI fall meeting. Virtual. December 2020. Zhang, J., J. Maleski, and B. Schwartz. 2021. Precision Agriculture and Object Recognition in Turfgrass. UGA Office of Government Relations Congressional Staff Tour. August 19th. Athens, GA. Schwartz, B. 2021. Drought Tolerant Turfgrasses Can Reduce Urban Water Use in Georgia. Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association Stop Watering and Start Saving: TifTuf Bermudagrass. Georgia Association of Water Professionals - NG Turf Meeting. August 19th. Schwartz, B. 2021. Stop Watering and Start Saving: TifTuf Bermudagrass. Georgia Association of Water Professionals Annual Conference - Georgia Water Wise Council. July 13th. Schwartz, B. 2021. Are Newly Developed Drought and Shade Tolerant Grasses Really What Golf Course Superintendents Need To Be Successful In The Future? GGCSA Bentgrass/Bermudagrass Forum. March 22nd. Schwartz, B. 2021. TifTuf Bermudagrass, a Good Steward of Georgia's Water Resources. Georgia Water Wise Council Meeting. February 15th. Using Key-Player and Decision-Making Models to Increase Diffusion of Innovations in Turf. Round Table Session Southern Region American Association for Agricultural Education Conference. Virtual Annual Grant Team Update: Using KeyPlayers and Decision-Making Models to Increase Diffusion of Innovations in Turf. December, 2020 SCRI Grant Annual Meeting Extension communications on the importance of selecting water saving turfgrasses at local agent trainings and industry updates (+10 meetings); Radio interview [WSB 95.5 FM] Maleski, J., Zhang, J., and B.M. Schwartz. Turf Survey Update. SCRI fall meeting. Virtual. December 2020. Cory Ketchum - Water use in turfgrasses. The Mid-Atlantic Turfgrass Expo Jan 19, 2021. Grady Miller - Blades of Green, Shades of Ecology. The Mid-Atlantic Turfgrass Expo Jan 19, 2021. Grady Miller - Drought tolerant turfgrasses for NC. Extension Agent and Master Gardener Training. Raleigh, NC. May 6, 2021. Grady Miller - Drought tolerant turfgrasses for NC. Master Gardener Training. Charlotte, NC. March 5, 2021. Grady Miller - Turfgrasses for NC. Landscape Conference. Rocky Mount, NC. Feb 14, 2021. Gouveia, B., Raymer, P.L., Schwartz, B.M., Kenworthy, K.E., Fontanier, C., Porto, A.C., Rios, E.F., Unruh, J.B., and Milla-Lewis, S.R. 2020. Performance and Genotype-By-Environment Interaction in Seashore Paspalum (Paspalumvaginatum) Evaluated Under Shade Conditions. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Phoenix, AZ. Nov 8-11. Porto, A.C., Paudel, D., Gouveia, B.T., Kenworthy, K.E., Kruse, J.K., Munoz, P.R., Schwartz, B.M., Novaes, E., Milla-Lewis, S.R.,andRios, E.F. 2020 Multi-Environment Evaluation of St. Augustinegrass Genotypes Under Shade. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Phoenix, AZ. Nov 8-11. Rockstad, G.B., Austin, R., Yu, X., Carbajal, E.M., Dunne, J.C., Miller, G.L., Jespersen, D.,and Milla-Lewis, S.R. 2020. Evaluation of UAV-Based Imagery for Drought Stress Traits in St. Augustinegrass. Proc. Amer. Soc. Agron. Intl. Ann. Mtg., Phoenix, AZ. Nov 8-11. Field days TAMU field day in Dallas Texas. October 7, 2020, Cancelled due to COVID-19. OSU: Field tour with Jon Brown of Bethel Farms on Sept 29, 2020. OSU: Field tour with Paul Jacobs of US Golf Association on April 21, 2021. OSU: Field tour with US Golf Association visitors on July 6, 2021. OSU: Field tour with Chad Adcock of Sod Production Services on August 2, 2021. Schwartz, B.M. 2021. An Overview of the Turfgrass Breeding Program at the University of Georgia - Tifton Campus. Buy Sod Field Tour. July 1st. Tifton, GA Schwartz, B.M. 2021. An Overview of the Turfgrass Breeding Program at the University of Georgia - Tifton Campus. Bethel Farms Turf Tour. April 16th. Tifton, GA Fox, J. and B.M. Schwartz. 2021. An Overview of the Turfgrass Breeding Program at the University of Georgia - Tifton Campus. Woerner Turf Tour. January 7th. Tifton, GA NCSU 2021 Turfgrass Field day. August 11, 2021. Social media The TAMU Extension Team has delivered Extension/outreach education through multiple platforms: AggieTurf Website: https://aggieturf.tamu.edu - which also houses all Extension publications for the AggieTurf program. AggieTurf Facebook Page: 2,633 Followers AggieTurf Twitter: 1,877 Followers Segars Twitter: 682 Followers Bowling Twitter: 1,082 Followers Constant Contact Email Listserv (~1600 subscribers) Twitter: Yanqi Wu tweeted multiple times on the project field operations and Tahoma 31 bermudagrass released from the previous SCRI project. The information has been disseminated to more than 1600 professionals in the turf industry. Other Dennis Martin conducted 10 golf course, 5 municipal park, 5 professional landscape installer, and 23 residential consultations alerting end users concerning the availability and benefits of using either Tahoma 31 or TifTuf bermudagrass (products of this multi-state grant) at time of next bermudagrass install. Winterkill was serious in the region and many end-users were considering options for regressing of damaged sites in spring of 2021. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1: Planning the fall annual meeting during ASA/CSSA meeting at Salt Lake City at Nov. 2021. Planning summer meeting and monthly teleconferences. Objective 2: OSU: The drought field and physiological trials will be evaluated in accordance with the project proposal and overall team discussions. Publication of drought physiology studies are expected in 2022. UGA: 2A - Next year the field trial to determine minimum water requirements will continue during the 2022 growing season, for a second repeated year of data collection. 2B - Analysis of data from initial controlled environment well be performed and a repeat of the experiment will be performed in necessary. 2C - Continue collecting UAS images throughout the growing season, winter dormancy and spring green-up in all locations. Continue provide technique support for the team. Disseminate the knowledge obtained from the process to the public. NCSU: 2A- Continue water use evaluation in field lysimeters. 2C- Next year we will conduct flights every two to three weeks over breeding plots.We will collect additional on-ground imagery for calibration and validation of UAV data and processing methods. We will continue to collect soil moisture and volumetric water content to help characterize seasonal changes in water availability at the site. We will develop additional tools and code to automate the processing and analysis of UAV-imagery for use in turf grass breeding programs. We will refine workflows and identify bottlenecks in UAV-based turf phenotyping. We will build relationships with collaborating universities to help guide analysis and standardize results. Continue to disseminate results are share research with stakeholders and other interested parties. Objective 3: TAMU: Initiate drought stress on the 2021 SSPNs and advanced trial for all four warm-season turfgrass species; continue data collection on the SSPN, advanced and shade trials. OSU: The shade field trials will be evaluated in accordance with the project proposal and overall team discussions. Publication of shade physiology studies are expected in 2022. UGA: Actual salt screens of St. Augustinegrass and bermudagrass are planned for fall and winter of 2021. Salt tolerance screenings for seashore paspalum and zoysiagrass are planned for 2022. UF: 1) We will continue to collect data from all trials with a goal of allowing for drought stress to occur in all SSPN and Approach C trials. 2) New populations of progeny from the breeding program will be established. 3) A graduate student will begin conducting research on management of CitraBlue St. Augustinegrass. This cultivar was developed using SCRI funding. However, additional information is needed for management. UCR: Evaluation of lines in single space plant nurseries and advanced trials will continue. Salinity field trial will be continued until end of October 2021 after that irrigation with potable water will be restored for recovery over the winter. Irrigation with saline water will be initiated again in early summer 2022. If weather conditions allow, water will be restricted once more this season. After recovery over the winter, drought will be initiated again in early summer of 2022. The UCR Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day will take place on September 16, 2021. The salinity trial will be presented during this event to golf course superintendents and other turf professionals. The Field Day report presenting results from the first year of this study will be published on the UCR Turfgrass website. NCSU: Sod production trials have been initiated, will be monitored through 2021 growing season and for green-up in 2022 before evaluating sod tensile strength in 2022. We will continue to collect data on SSPN nurseries, advanced trials and the St. Augustine shade trial. Objective 4: UGA: 4A - We will complete the differential expression analysis from the generated RNASeq data, and focus on validating the expression of sodium and potassium transporters. Efforts to generate and validate additional seashore paspalum crosses between parents that differ in their salt response will also continue. 4B - Tissue harvested from current experiments will be used for metabolite and RNASeq analysis, to identify potential candidate genes and key pathways responsible for drought tolerance in improved lines. NCSU: GBS will be conducted to genotype new mapping population and a linkage map will be produced. Field and greenhouse data will be taken on drought traits. Paper of drought RNA-Seq will be completed. USDA: 1) We will finalize both St. Augustinegrass reference genomes and perform annotation. 2) We will sequence, assemble and annotate African Bermudagrass. We will collect RNAseq data for annotation and collect prior data from collaborators. 3) We will sequence a set of parental lines used for generating triploids from African Bermudagrass. 4) Hire a postdoc on the project to work on integration of genomics-based resources across species. Objective 5: NCSU: Continue working with team on Socio-economic analysis via surveys. TAMU: 1) Plans to conduct more outreach presentations on newly developed cultivars with best management practices for the Texas landscape. 2) Plans to create at least two factsheets on newly developed cultivars and best management practices for the Texas landscape. 3) Showcase SCRI plots and data at the 2021 Texas A&M Turfgrass Field Day OSU: 1) Consultations will continue with prospective sod producers concerning availability of production licenses of new SCRI warm-season grass products. 2) Consultations will continue with sports field managers, golf course superintendents, turf managers and consumers concerning availability and fit of the newly commercialized warm-season turfgrasses with improved drought resistance. 3) Continuous effort will be made to investigate homeowner's preferences for new turfgrass attributes particularly focusing on tradeoffs between low-input and aesthetic attributes; we will also develop econometric procedures to estimate the economic effect of social networking among consumers on new variety adoption; special effort will be made to consider climate change for our research. UGA: 5A - Testing communication artifacts and communication channels with the Media and Turfgrass Professionals to identify communication channels and create media artifacts for different audiences: television spots, websites, social media, press releases, extension bulletins, etc. Produce a television segment on innovative tools resulting from this grant to air on Georgia Public Broadcasting and nationally through Rural Free Delivery (RFD) television. Utilize KeyPlayers that are identified to maximize the impact of educational media and trainings to increase impact on the turfgrass network and subsequent strata of the network. Utilize, test, and refine the Decision-Making Model in Agricultural and Natural Resources to create a more efficient and reusable model for turfgrass professionals to increase impact on the turfgrass network and subsequent strata of the network. Submit conference presentation to Association for Communication Excellence Conference focused on increasing impact of communication within the turfgrass network. 5C - Continue transfer learning with new labels to better generalize the model for different locations. Train on Leaf-Off imagery to better quantify area under canopy. Present work at Field Day and CSSA annual conference.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1 The CAP team was not able to hold an in-person summer meeting due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, but we -including our industry advisory panel- held a virtual meeting in December 2020, and several sub-objective monthly teleconferences during the reporting period (09/01/2020 and 08/31/2021). Objective 2 At TAMU: 1) Data was collected in a 2,000 sq ft lysimetry field facility to develop crop coefficient values for the advanced experimental lines. 2) St. Augustine drought mechanism experiments were started late summer 2021. At OSU: 1) Established bermuda, zoysia, St. Augustine and s. paspalum field trials under a rainout shelter. 2) Evaluated the rooting characteristics of bermuda genotypes under controlled environmental conditions. 3) Initiated a greenhouse trial to study the root and shoot response of bermuda genotypes under drought stress. At UGA: 1) Data collection under rain-out shelters to assess minimum water use requirements was started. 2) An initial run to assess physiological mechanisms responsible for improved drought tolerance was performed in growth chambers. Measurements have included water use and photosynthetic traits, as well as antioxidant metabolism, accumulation of protective solutes, and rooting characteristics. 3) Analysis of UAS images collected at the Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma is being conducted at the UGA Tifton campus. Visited Florida to help set up new equipment and prepare the field for phenotyping. At UF: Lysimeters were established in the greenhouse and installed in the field. Data was collected to determine the water use of selected lines. At NCSU: 1) Plant materials were established in lysimeters. A preliminary run of water use research to quantify reduced water requirements was conducted. 2) For the UAS sub-objective, breeding plots were setup with permanent ground control markers for use in the geometric rectification of the drone imagery. A RTK-GPS survey was performed to precisely locate the ground control markers. Standardized flight plans were developed, tested, and saved in flight control software. Monthly UAV flights were conducted to collect data on establishment and growth rate. Radiometric calibration panels were created and tested. Software code was developed to automate the delineation of breeding plots for use in geospatial analysis (GIS). Initial code was developed to calculate common vegetative indices from multispectral imagery. Objective 3 At all locations: 1) Development of new hybrids continued normally as part of the operations of each breeding program. 2) The group put together a plan for dates and traits to be evaluated on SSPNs and advanced trials for all species. Data collection was performed according to that plan using a combination of monthly drone images and visual scores beginning at green-up and continuing throughout the growing season. Drought stress was imposed at most locations and data on drought response was collected both visually at with UAS. 3) A shade trial (80% shade) to evaluate elite St. Augustine hybrids was planted in July 2020 at Dallas. Following an unusually cold winter, most of the entries were winter killed. Data is being collected on any surviving plots. 4) Sod trials at two locations were established for each species. Additionally, at OSU: Initiated greenhouse shade physiology and morphology studies including evaluation of light use efficiency of selected St. Augustine and Bermuda genotypes. At UGA, all entries were increased in the greenhouse to provide adequate plant materials for the greenhouse salt tolerance screening. Actual salt screens of St. Augustine and bermuda are planned for fall and winter of 2021. Salt tolerance screenings for s. paspalum and zoysia are planned for 2022. At UCR: Data on establishment and turfgrass quality are being collected starting Fall 2020. In 2021, the salinity and restricted irrigation field studies were initiated on all four species. Irrigation with saline water at electroconductivity (EC) level of 4.0 dSm-1 started on July 6th, 2021. Watering in the restricted irrigation trial was withheld on July 12, 2021. Data are being collected to evaluate changes in turfgrass quality under drought and salinity stress, and for recovery after restoring irrigation. Objective 4 At TAMU: 1) Developed an in vitro method for quantification of salt secretion and characterized candidate genes of sodium transporters in zoysia. 4) performed comparative genomics analysis between the zoysia genome and other major grass lineages, and identified major evolutionary events. At NCSU: 1) Constructed genotyping by sequencing library and conducted drought evaluations in the greenhouse for a new St. Augustine mapping population. 2) Performed differential gene expression analyses (RNA-Seq) in St. Augustine under drought stress. 3) Identified QTL of morphological traits associated with water usage in Augustine. At OSU: 2) QTL associated with winter survivability and drought resistance have been identified in African bermuda. At USDA: 1) St. Augustine cultivar Raleigh and PI 410353 were sequenced and assembled to chromosome scale. 2) An annotation pipeline for St. Augustine is in development. 3) A draft genome assembly has been produced for OKC 1163. 4) Additional long-read sequencing has been performed on hybrid bermudas. At UGA: 1) Generated of a new s. paspalum F2 mapping population. 2) Improvement of the s. paspalum genome assembly, version 3.1, has been publicly released on Phytozome (https://phytozome-next.jgi.doe.gov/info/Pvaginatum_v3_1). 3) Differential gene expression analyses are ongoing. 4) Metabolism: Plant materials for the target species (bermuda, s. paspalum, St. Augustine, and zoysia) have been established in pots, and initial experiments screening plant drought responses and tissue collection for further analysis have begun. Preliminary trials for selected species (s. paspalum and bermuda) were performed, and a protocol for metabolomic analysis has been tested. Objective 5 Extension specialists at TAMUS, UF, OSU, UGA and NC State gave presentations at field days, regional conferences, county agent trainings, master gardener programs, among other that in total reached hundreds of attendees. These presentations touched on drought tolerant cultivars newly developed by the SCRI project and how they best fit into the southern landscape. At OSU, preliminary discussions with landscape leaders concerning potential semi-permanent installation of demonstration plots of the new bermudaes and zoysiaes that have been developed by the project were conducted. The plans are expected to be finalized during 2022 and installations started at that time. Also at OSU, we conducted a consumer survey to estimate homeowners' preferences and tradeoff values between aesthetic quality attributes and low-input uses. At UGA, we collected turfgrass professionals' virtual networking data via social media focusing on their social networking, new variety adoption, and socio-demographic information. The data has been analyzed to estimate the impact of consumers' social networking on their new turfgrass adoption. A Media Professional Steering Committee and a Turfgrass Specialist Steering Committee are now operational. A steering committee focus group perceptions research study is underway, data collected, one article submitted. SCRI Turf project website established for education and communication of findings (https://site.caes.uga.edu/scriturf/). Social media channels created (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). 2) Finished CNN inferencing for Atlanta, Orlando and Oklahoma City. Created labels for training the model for Raleigh.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: R. Hejl, B. Wherley, and C. Fontanier. 20XX. Long-Term Performance of Warm-Season Turfgrass Species Under Municipal Irrigation Frequency Restrictions. In Press HortScience
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: M. Chavarria, B. Wherley, R. Jessup, and A. Chandra. 2021. Physiological Responses to Salinity among Warm-Season Turfgrasses of Contrasting Salinity Tolerance. In Press Journal of Agronomy & Crop Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.12501
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: B. Chang, B. Wherley, J. Aitkenhead-Peterson, and J. West. 2020. Water chemistry and nitrogen source effect foliar uptake efficiency in Champion bermudagrass. In Press Journal of Plant Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2020.1783310
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: M. Chavarria, B. Wherley, R. Jessup, and A. Chandra. 2020. Leaf anatomical responses and chemical composition of warm-season turfgrasses to increasing salinity. Current Plant Biology 22: 100147 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2020.100147
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Xu, Y., J. Zhang, J. Zhao, J. Song, Q. Yu. 2021. An improved virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system in zoysiagrass. In: RNA-based technologies for functional genomics in plants, edited by G. Tang, S. Teotia, X. Tang, D. Singh. Springer. Pp 155-168
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Gopinath, L., J.Q. Moss, and Y.Q. Wu. 2021. Evaluating the freeze tolerance of bermudagrass genotypes. Agrosystems, Geosciences, & Environment. DOI: 10.1002/agg2.20170
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Chhetri, M., C. Fontanier, J.Q. Moss, and Y.Q. Wu. 2021. Effect of combined shade and drought stress on bermudagrass turf. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal. 1-11. DOI:10.1002/its2.68.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Gopinath, L., J.Q. Moss, and Y.Q. Wu. 2021. Quantifying freeze tolerance of putting green type bermudagrasses. HortScience. 56:478-480. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI15606-20
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Yu, S.H., T.L. Fang, H.X. Dong, L.L. Yan, D.L. Martin, J.Q. Moss, C.H. Fontanier, and Y.Q. Wu. 2021. Genetic and QTL mapping in African bermudagrass. The Plant Genome. 14: e20073. DOI:10.1002/tpg2.20073
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Worley, B., Fuhrman, N., & Peake, J. (2021). A quantitative approach to identifying turfgrass key players. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 2(1), 83-95. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v2i1.85
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2021 Citation: Worley, B., Peake, J., & Fuhrman, N. (In Review). Perceptions of agricultural extension and communication professionals regarding current, preferred, and emerging communication channels: A focus group study. Journal of Applied Communications
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Gouveia, B. T., Rios, E. F., Nunes, J. A. R., Gezan, S. A., Munoz, P. R., Kenworthy, K. E., . . . Moss, J. Q. (2021). Multispecies genotype x environment interaction for turfgrass quality in five turfgrass breeding programs in the southeastern United States. Crop Science, doi:10.1002/csc2.20421
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gouveia, B. T., Rios, E. F., Rodrigues Nunes, J. A., Gezan, S. A., Munoz, P. R., Kenworthy, K. E., . . . Moss, J. Q. (2020). Genotype-by-environment interaction for turfgrass quality in bermudagrass across the southeastern United States. Crop Science, 60(6), 3328-3343. doi:10.1002/csc2.20260
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Godwin, C., T. Fang, and Y.Q. Wu. 2021. Genetic identity and diversity among experimental selections and cultivars of vegetatively propagated turf bermudagrass as assessed with SSR Markers. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal. 1-10, DOI: 10.1002/its2.29
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Hildebrand, K. (Advisor: C. Chung). 2021. Does Change in Respondents Attention Matter in Estimating Willingness to Pay from Choice Experiments? Ph.D. Dissertation Paper, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Spiekerman, J. J., & Devos, K. M. (2020). The Halophyte Seashore Paspalum Uses Adaxial Leaf Papillae for Sodium Sequestration. Plant Physiol, 184(4), 2107-2119. doi:10.1104/pp.20.00796


Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Audiences communicated with include: municipal administrators, water management district personnel, sod producers, lawn maintenance professionals, landscape architects, golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, turfgrass scientists, county agents, master gardeners and home owners. Changes/Problems: TAMU: We were able to keep forward progress on the tasks of the project despite mandatory Covid-19 related shutdowns during spring/early summer 2019 at Texas A&M. A hiring freeze was also put into place by AgriLife Research, which put additional strains on our ability to staff the project. In March 2020, Dr. Bowling accepted a new position to serve as the Urban Water Extension Specialist at the Dallas Center. In this new role, she has started to establish new relationships with key water resource stakeholders in the state. She will maintain a foothold in water-efficient turfgrass management research and Extension. UF: Co-PI, Dr. John Erickson left the University of Florida. His projects were moved under the direction of Dr. Kevin Kenworthy. COVID-19 brought most face-to-face meetings and training events to a halt. OSU: COVID-19 caused delays in field operations in 2020. As a result, the SSPN nurseries were not fully grown in. It is expected that the nurseries will grow in by June, 2021. In the QTL mapping study at OSU, we changed to establish a field nursery from Goodwell, OK to Stillwater, OK due to the travel restrictions in summer 2020. Turfgrass Field Day was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 issues. A replacement field day will be held in 2021 either virtually or in person to cover and feature the new varieties developed by the project. The 2020 Oklahoma Turfgrass Conference was altered in format and will not feature varietal information. This information will be provided in a virtual field day in 2021 as well as industry-specific webinars in 2021. On the socio-economics work, one of proposed objectives was to estimate potential economic impacts of improved turfgrasses from past and current SCRI projects on economies of southern states. Due to low adoption rate of improved turfgrasses so far (except sports fields), we decided to modify this objective. The new objective is to examine effects of social networking on turfgrass professionals' new variety adoption. For this study, we will collect turfgrass professionals' virtual networking data via social media focusing on their social networking, new variety adoption, and socio-demographic information. Although this analysis will focus on turfgrass professional's new variety adoption, this study will also shed some light on effects of homeowners' social networking on their adoption of new turfgrass varieties. UGA: Many extension events normally held in person have been canceled, delayed, or moved to online formats due to COVID-19. One such example is the turfgrass field day, which is an important outreach activity that is in part used to promote the use of new cultivars to reduce water inputs. These disruptions may have potentially limited the audience reached by traditional extension activities. Identifying timelines for steering committees' meetings in the spring will pose challenges as turfgrass professionals face heavy time constraints in the spring of each year. It is likely that with COVID-19 limiting travel and time constraints that these committee meetings will be held virtually. One the genomics sub-objective, while we are attempting further crosses, it is possible that a crossability barrier exists between PI 299042 and HI10. We will analyze additional accessions for variation in leaf structure, including papilla size and salt tolerance that can be used as parents in crosses. In addition, we will explore conducting comparative RNAseq on accessions that differ in traits of interest. NCSU: COVID-19 caused delays in field operations in 2020. As a result, the SSPN and advanced trials were not fully grown in by the end of the season. The Raleigh x XSA10098 mapping population was planted late and we were not able to do any phenotyping this year. Our field day could not be held is person and was switched to an online format that limited the number of presentations that could be provided. UCR: Due to the problems and delay with hiring Lab assistant, resulting from Covid-19, postdoctoral scholar (Marta Pudzianowska) took over most of the technical responsibilities (propagation and maintenance of plant material, planting and maintenance in the field) with help of other members of the team. USDA-ARS: Due to conronavirus affecting labs, scaffolding to generate pseudomolecules had to be changed from completion with BioNano technology to scaffolding with linkage maps for St. Augustinegrass. Savings from this effort will allow for sequencing a second St. Augustinegrass which is included in the disease resistance study. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? TAMU: Training and professional development of Reagan Hejl (PhD student), Jose Diaz (MS student) at College Station TX postdoc (Haomin Lyu) in modern genomics and plant molecular biology techniques, postdoc in turfgrass breeding and high-throughput phenotyping (Tianyi Wang) at Dallas TX. OSU: Two graduate students have been trained to work in breeding and genomics research. Shuhao Yu works on this project and has planned to graduate in December, 2020. Alex Rodriguez works on the assessment of SCRI nurseries. Two MS students (Anmol Kajla and Alyssa Counce) have been trained in relationship to the greenhouse shade physiology studies. One Ph.D. student is currently working on this project for his dissertation work on social-economic analysis. Two MS student was trained and worked towards objective 2 (Charanpreet Kaur on rainout shelter and physiology and Ryan Earp on phenotyping/drone/UAS work). Six undergraduate students: Ms. Carly Godwin worked on this project and graduated in December 2019. Mr. Colten Martin and Mr. Kellen King work on this project. Ms. Brooklyn Evan, Ms. Bailey Lockhart, Ms. Karli Fuss, and Ms. Claire Caldwell were all trained and worked on the field establishment and data collection towards objective 2. Post-docs researcher Lakshmy Gopinath, was hired and trained to work on all aspects of objective 2. UCR: The project has provided training in conducting field studies for our graduate student and information about advantages and possibilities of using warm-season turfgrass species for golf course superintendents and other professionals through virtual Field Day. UF: The project has provided training in conducting field studies for our graduate student and information about advantages and possibilities of using warm-season turfgrass species for golf course superintendents and other professionals through virtual Field Day. UGA: One graduate student has started in the Crop and Soil Science graduate program and has been training on experimental design, establishing plants for field trials and controlled environment trials, as well as techniques used in plant physiology. One graduate student received valuable training by assisting with experimental design and field layout, organization of plant materials and field plantings. Program technical staff and student workers also received similar training. Training of a MSc student, Thomas Gottilla (MSc student in Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics). Undergraduate student, and Graduate research assistant involved in KeyPlayer research and snowball sampling. Additionally, students were involved in the creation of posters, and symposium and conference presentations. NCSU: Postdoc Beatriz Tome Gouveia was hired to analyze breeding field and research data. MS student Greta Rockstad was trained to working on QTL mapping of drought tolerance and high-throughput phenotypic tools. Rotation Ph.D student Nico Lara was trained to collect morphological data from field trials. MS Student Cory Ketchum on water use and drought tolerance data collection training. Ph.D student Ashley Schoonmaker was trained to generate high-quality reference genome assemblies, perform linkage mapping and proper experimental design. In addition, multiple graduate students and research technicians were trained in the safe and proper use of UAV technology, best practices and proper workflows to operate and collect data using drone technology, process imagery in photogrammetry software, use GIS and image classification to summarize results, use programming languages such as R and python to view and process imagery. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presentations Yu, Q. 2019. Turfgrass genomics: From genomics resources to molecular breeding. Department of Genetics and Biochemistry Fall Semester Seminar Series, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, Nov. 1. Segars, C., and B. Bowling. 2020. Delivered a total of approximately 192 Extension presentations both live and using virtual platforms (Zoom, Teams, GoToWebinar). Primary audiences include Texas Turfgrass Professionals, Texas Master Gardeners, and homeowners. Segars C., and B. Bowling. 2020. Offered approximately 8 training opportunities for AgriLife Extension personnel in an effort to further disseminate project findings. B. Bowling. 2020. Introduced the warm-season SCRI to nearly 200 representatives of municipalities and water districts across Texas and gave a presentation on appropriate selection/watering practices to inform statewide municipal ordinances. K.E. Kenworthy. 2019. CitraBlue St. Augustinegrass. Florida Turfgrass Assocation Annual Conference, August 13, 2019. K.E. Kenworthy. 2019. Breeding Better Grasses for the Future. Palm Beach GCSA Symposium, September 26, 2019. K.E. Kenworthy. 2020. CitraBlue St. Augustinegrass, A New Option For Landscapes. Florida Turfgrass Association Regional Seminars, January 7, 2020. K.E. Kenworthy. 2020. CitraBlue St. Augustinegrass Availability and Other Breeding Updates. In Service Training for Country Agents, June 11, 2020. K.E. Kenworthy. 2020. Research Impacting the Management of Florida Golf Courses. Everglade GCSA Symposium - July 14, 2020. J. B. Unruh. 2019. Your $$ at Work: Research Impacting the Golf Industry, Palm Beach GCSA Symposium, September 26, 2019. J. B. Unruh. 2020. Research Impacting the Management of Florida Golf Courses. Everglade GCSA Symposium - July 14, 2020. Wu, Y.Q. 2019. Oklahoma State University turfgrass breeding program and cultivars update. 74th Annual Oklahoma Turfgrass Conference & Trade Show. Owasso, OK, November 19. Wu, Y.Q. 2019. Update on the turfgrass breeding efforts at Oklahoma State University. Oklahoma Turfgrass Field Day, Sept. 25, OSU Botanic Garden. Wu, Y.Q. 2019. Tahoma 31 bermudagrass: Drought resistance, cold hardiness, early spring green up, traffic tolerance, and high turf quality. Sports Turf Managers Association Conference, Phoenix, AZ, Jan. 25. Yu, S., Y.Q. Wu, L. Yan, D. Martin, J.Q. Moss, C. Fontanier, T. Fang, and H. Dong. 2019. High density genetic linkage and QTL mapping in African bermudagrass. Oklahoma State University, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences Student Research Symposium Poster Session. Fontanier, C. 2019. Performance of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass in moderate to heavy shade. OSU Turfgrass Field Day. Stillwater, OK. Sept 26. Fontanier, C., Q. Luo, S. Mitchell, B. Cheary, A. Kajla, S. Singh, N. Amgain. 2019. Connecting golf and STEM within horticulture and landscape architecture. Stillwater 5th Grade G&T Program. Stillwater, OK. Dec 19. Copeland, E., Peake, J., Fuhrman, N., Schwartz, B. (2020) Updated: Improving drought tolerance and sustainability of turfgrasses used in southern landscapes through the integration of breeding, genetics, physiology, economics and outreach. Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities. Athens, GA. Copeland, E., Peake, J., Fuhrman, N., Schwartz, B. (2020) Improving drought tolerance and sustainability of turfgrasses used in southern landscapes through the integration of breeding, genetics, physiology, economics and outreach. presented at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium. Athens, GA. Schwartz, B., Worley, B., Peake, J., Fuhrman, N., (2020) Using Key-Player and Decision-Making Models to Increase Diffusion of Innovations in Turf. Crop and Soil Science Association Conference. Phoenix, AZ. Invited symposium speaker. Copeland, E., Peake, J., Fuhrman, N., Schwartz, B. (2019) Improving drought tolerance and sustainability of turfgrasses used in southern landscapes through the integration of breeding, genetics, physiology, economics and outreach. Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities. Athens, GA. Miller, G. (2020) Drought tolerance in turfgrasses as part of a turfgrass management. Smithfield Regional Turfgrass Conference and Greensboro Regional Turfgrass Conference. February 26-27. Greta Rockstad. Toward drought tolerant turf. Virtual talk on NC State 3-Minute Thesis Competition, September 2020 Field days Wherley, B., B. Bowling, C. Segars and A. Chandra. 2019. Texas A&M Turfgrass and Landscape Field Day, College Station, TX. 150 attendees. Dr. Bryan Unruh and Dr. Kevin Kenworthy spoke about water use and drought responses of turfgrass and our USDA funded research at the University of Florida Virtual Turfgrass Field Day, Oct. 14, 2020 OSU Turfgrass Field Day. Stillwater, OK. Sept 26, 2019. OSU: Field tour with Jon Brown of Bethel Farms Sept 29, 2020. 2020 UCR Turfgrass and Landscape Research Virtual Field Day (October 15, 2020). NCSU 2020 Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics Virtual Field day. https://nctbg.wordpress.ncsu.edu/2020-virtual-field-day/ NCSU 2020 Turfgrass Virtual Field day. August 26, 2020. Social media The TAMU Extension Team has delivered Extension/outreach education through multiple platforms: AggieTurf Website: https://aggieturf.tamu.edu - which also houses all Extension publications for the AggieTurf program. AggieTurf Facebook Page: 2,633 Followers AggieTurf Twitter: 1,877 Followers Segars Twitter: 682 Followers Bowling Twitter: 1,082 Followers Constant Contact Email Listserv (~1600 subscribers) Twitter: in addition to the project having its own account (https://twitter.com/SCRI_Turf) that is regularly used to communicate progress by the team and do outreach, many members of the team are active on Twitter. As a result, our project disseminates information on this platform to thousands of professionals in the turf industry. UCR: Activities related to establishing trials were disseminated through Twitter and Videos. Other Drs. Bowling and Segars co-organized the 2020 Texas A&M Turfgrass Ecology and Management Short Course which includes professional training on appropriate turfgrass selection and key findings from the warm-season SCRI Project. The course is a 4-day intensive training. In 2020, there were approximately 32 attendees spanning the golf, landscape, sod production, and sports/recreation industry sectors. Seven prospective sod producers were provided with consultation concerning available new bermudagrass and zoysiagrass varieties created by the multi-state project. Contact information of the licensing agents were provided to the prospective producers. Fifteen sports field managers at the high-school and university level were provided with consultation concerning fit of improved bermudagrass to their sports field situation. Three golf course superintendents received consultations by email and phone concerning sourcing new project bermudagrasses for their tees and fairways. One-hundred fifty-three consumers (150 emails, 3 phone calls) and 76 master gardeners (four turf master gardener sessions) received training on improved bermudagrasses and zoysiagrasses created by the project and the fit of these products in their lawns/landscapes. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1: Continue organize summer and fall meetings (if Covid-19 restriction available) and monthly teleconferences. Objective 2: UGA: Minimum water requirement trials will be initiated in 2021 in the rain-out shelter plots established in 2020 to determine the amount of water and potential water savings of advanced lines compared to commercial standards. Additionally, controlled environment trials will be initiated to better understand the mechanisms associated with improved drought performance. Potential mechanisms which will be explored include root morphology, water use, photosynthetic performance, and protective mechanisms such as the accumulation of compatible solutes or antioxidant enzymes. NCSU: Next year we will conduct flights every two to three weeks over breeding plots. We will collect additional on-ground imagery for calibration and validation of UAV data and processing methods. We will continue to collect soil moisture and volumetric water content to help characterize seasonal changes in water availability at the site. We will develop additional tools and code to automate the processing and analysis of UAV-imagery for use in turf grass breeding programs. We will refine workflows and identify bottlenecks in UAV-based turf phenotyping. We will build relationships with collaborating universities to help guide analysis and standardize results. Objective 3: UGA-Tifton: SSPN and RFT Field Trials. In the late fall of 2020, data will be collected from all field plots to document the level of grown in accomplished during this first season. Beginning spring of 2021, spring green up data will be collected from all field plots. Once grow in is complete for 90% + of plots, irrigation will be terminated, and we will begin to collect data on turf quality in the absence of irrigation. UGA-Griffin: We will begin collecting data from the seashore paspalum shade trial in the spring of 2021 to document differential response of genotypes to shade in Griffin. Also in Griffin, we will increase plant materials and test entries by species using our greenhouse salinity testing protocols during the winter of 2020-21. We anticipate that two years will be required to complete salinity evaluations for all species. TAMU: Initiate drought stress on the 2020 SSPNs and advanced trial for all four warm-season turfgrass species; continue data collection on the SSPN, advanced and shade trials. OSU: The shade field trials will be evaluated in accordance with the project proposal and overall team discussions. Shade physiology studies are expected to conclude in spring 2021 with subsequent publication of results in late 2021. UCR: Next year evaluation of turf quality, density, color and texture will be initiated in SSPN study. Irrigation with saline water will be applied between April and October 2021 in field salinity tolerance study. Restricted irrigation will be initiated in irrigation study at the beginning of dry season in 2021. Turf quality (during periods with and without stress) and leaf firing (during stress and recovery period) data will be collected in both studies. NCSU: Initiate drought stress on all 2020 SSPNs and advanced trials. Continue data collection on the SSPN, advanced and shade trials. Objective 4: UGA: We will conduct comparative RNASeq analysis of seashore paspalum accessions that vary significantly in their level of salt tolerance. Genes putatively contributing to the enhanced tolerance will be selected for further in-depth analysis. We will also conduct further analyses of a potassium transporter that is underlying a previously identified QTL for leaf K+ in seashore paspalum. UGA: Controlled environment trials will be performed in the selected top performing lines and standards. As part of these trials, tissue will be harvested for RNAseq and metabolomics to be used for identification of potential candidate genes and pathways. TAMU: Publish the zoysiagrass genome and identify the major candidate genes associated with salt secretion in zoysiagrass. NCSU: GBS will be conducted to genotype new mapping population and a linkage map will be produced. Field and greenhouse data will be taken on drought traits. Differentially expressed genes from RNA-Seq will be identified, annotated, and validated. NCSU: We will finalize St. Augustinegrass reference genomes and perform annotation, complete the disease resistance RNA sequencing study in St. Augustingrass, sequence, assemble and annotate African Bermudagrass, sequence a set of parental lines used for generating triploids from African Bermudagrass. Objective 5: UGA: We will meet with the Media Professionals and Turfgrass Professionals Steering Committees in February of 2021. Engaging Media and Turfgrass Professionals to identify communication channels and create media artifacts for different audiences: television spots, websites, social media, press releases, extension bulletins, etc. KeyPlayers that are currently being identified will be utilized to maximize the impact of educational media and trainings to increase impact on the turfgrass network and subsequent strata of the network. Additionally, we will utilize, test, and refine the Decision-Making Model in Agricultural and Natural Resources to create a more efficient and reusable model for turfgrass professionals to increase impact on the turfgrass network and subsequent strata of the network. TAMU: Dr. Segars and Bowling have been working to create and update Extension resources to reflect project findings. Over the next year, they will complete the Zoysiagrass Lawn Management guide - which includes a section on cultivar selection - and will update the Texas Turfgrass Selection and Turfgrass Site Preparation and Planting guides to reflect the most current findings from the project. OSU: After the survey is done, the survey data will be analyzed to estimate consumer preferences and trade-off values among turfgrass attributes. Virtual turf field day will be held in 2021 to feature the new bermudagrasses and zoysiagrasses that have improved drought resistance. Linkage to commercial availability and purchase sources will also be included. A 2,000 sq. ft. demonstration lawn at the Oklahoma Gardening Studio grounds will be renovated from buffalograss to several of the new zoysiagrasses released from work of the past two SCRI warm-season grass development projects. A new filming segment/video will be made for the OK Gardening TV Show that features bermudagrasses and zoysiagrasses that have improved drought resistance and feature commercially availability. Consultations will continue with prospective sod producers concerning availability of production licenses of new SCRI warm-season grass products. Consultations will continue with sports field managers, golf course superintendents, turf managers and consumers concerning availability and fit of the newly commercialized warm-season turfgrasses with improved drought resistance.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? (listed by objective and sub-objective number) The team including the industry advisory panel held an annual meeting at San Antonio, TX. Monthly teleconferences were held by sub-objective teams. Several project director and objective lead teleconferences were held for planning purposes. Several full team teleconferences were held to report on sub-objective progress. 2a. Top performing lines of bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, seashore paspalum, St. Augustinegrass (StAug) and corresponding check cultivars, were received from cooperators. Miller has coordinated the lyisimeter studies at three universities, providing a protocol for all to follow. Plant materials have been established in lysimters at NCSU, UF and TAMU. One preliminary run of water use research to quantify reduced water requirements has been collected at NCSU. Field plots of each species were established under a rainout shelter structure in Perkins, OK in 2020. Establishment rate and digital image analysis data was collected. Field plots were prepared at UGA, and plant materials were planted under a rain-out structure to establish for future minimum water requirements trial. 2b. Bermudagrass (OSU) and seashore paspalum (UGA) plant materials were received and propagated in the greenhouse for physiological experiments. 2c. A protocol for the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) trials has been developed and a Zoom training was conducted (April 2020) for collaborators, which included faculty, undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, a shared space for uploading images was set up so all collaborating institutions can put the UAS images in a single repository for future analysis. The initial pipeline for image processing has been set up, and initial UAS flights have successfully been conducted at UGA, OSU and NCSU. 3a. Breeding programs continue selection of parental lines and hybridizations to generate new hybrids. 3b. Breeders propagated and exchanged materials to establish nurseries: bermudagrass with 189 new lines (3 NCSU, 50 UGA-Tifton, 100 OSU, 16 UF, 20 UCR), seashore paspalum with 90 lines (all UGA-Griffin), StAug with 125 lines (50 NCSU, 45 UF, 30 TAMU) and zoysiagrass with 216 lines (47 NCSU, 10 UGA-Griffin, 50 UGA-Tifton, 70 TAMU, 39 UF). Nurseries were planted in late spring to early summer of 2020 at six locations for paspaulum and seven locations for all other grasses. 3c. Breeders propagated and exchanged materials to plant four replicated field trials in late spring to early summer:bermudagrass with 37 entries (1 NCSU, 8 UGA-Tifton, 20 OSU, 5 UF), Seashore Paspalum with 21 entries (all UGA-G), StAug with 30 entries (11 NCSU, 8 UF, 7 TAMU), and zoysiagrass with 45 entries (8 NCSU, 2 UGA-Griffin, 12 UGA-Tifton, 13 TAMU, 7 UF). All these trials were planted at eight locations (Riverside, CA; Jay and Citra, FL; Dallas, TX; Griffin, and Tifton, GA; Jackson Springs, NC and Stillwater, OK), except paspalum and StAug trials were not planted in NC and OK, and OK, respectively. These trials will be used to evaluate long-term drought persistence. Additionally, ancillary trials to evaluate shade (bermudagrass at College Station, TX and Stillwater, OK; paspalum at Gainesville, FL and Griffin, GA; StAug at Raleigh, NC and Dallas, TX; and zoysiagrass at Gainesville, and Stillwater) and salinity (all four species at Riverside, CA) were established in summer 2020. 4a. At UGA, a previous seashore paspalum F2 population crossed between PI 509022 and HI33 consisted of 58 progeny. We split the marker dataset into markers that were heterozygous only in the female parent, those that were heterozygous only in the male parent, and those that were heterozygous in both parents to generate HA, AH and HH maps, respectively. The population was screened for variation in biomass (3 replicates), and leaf K+ and Na+ levels (1 replicate). However, because of the small population size, the phenotypic dataset was used only for training purposes. We also attempted to develop a new mapping population by crossing seashore paspalum accessions PI 299042 and HI10. All 94 progeny were analyzed with an SSR marker and proved to be selfs, suggesting that PI 299042 is self-compatible. At NCSU, a new mapping population of 147 F1 progeny was developed through crosses of previously identified lines segregating for drought tolerance. The population was planted at the Sandhills Research Station (Jackson Springs, NC) during summer 2020. A greenhouse trial containing 3 reps of the population will be conducted for additional phenotyping of drought related traits. 4b. At TAMU, we performed transcriptomic sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes in response to salt stress. Differential gene expression analysis was also performed between functional salt glands and non-functional salt glands in zoysiagrass. At UGA, preliminary trials in controlled environment conditions, to reproduce and confirm the improved drought tolerance seen in advanced field trials, have been initiated for bermudagrass and seashore paspalum; pots for StAug and zoysiagrass are being established.At NCSU, RNA-Seq was conducted using StAug lines (Raleigh and XSA 10098) with contrasting drought responses. Leaf and root tissues from drought treated and non-treated control treatments were used to extract RNA and constructed sequencing library. Raw data has been checked and processed to identify differentially expressed genes related to drought stress. 4c. At TAMU, we sequenced the Zoysia matrella genome using long read single-molecule real-time sequencing technology (PacBio) and assembled the sequences into 20 pseudo-chromosomes with assistance of combined information of high-density genetic map and high-resolution optical map (BioNano). To separate the two subgenomes, we developed a bioinformatics tool named "CISM-LTR". Although the two subgenomes are highly collinear, differential gene retention and preferential retention was observed in the two subgenomes. At NCSU, StAug cultivar Raleigh was sequenced and assembled to chromosome scale. Flow cytometry has been completed for samples targeted for genome sequencing to determine genome size. At UGA, we have been working with the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) to validate and improve seashore paspalum genome assembly v2.0, which was generated by JGI as part of a Community Sequencing Project led by James Schnable. The genetic maps generated under (1) as well as previously generated genetic maps (Qi et al. 2019) were aligned against assembly v2.0. Discrepancies between the maps and genome assembly are being used as guide to inspect and correct the assembly, leading to v3.0 which will be released once validation has been completed. 5a. At NCSU, Miller has updated one publication to include the new cultivars from the SCRI program. At TAMUS, turfgrass extension team (Drs. Segars and Bowling) have incorporated data and background information from the warm-season SCRI project into nearly every Extension presentation offered on Turfgrass Management over the past year. At OSU, a turf master gardener training slide set was updated in 2020 to provide the latest bermudagrass varietal information concerning Tahoma 31 and TifTuf bermudagrass for integration into Oklahoma and regional lawns. At UGA, we have hired to students to be involved in the project, undergraduate student worker (Copeland), and Graduate research assistance (Worley). Conducted "KeyPlayer" in turfgrass research, which will be completed in November of 2020. Members for both the Media Professional Steering Committee, and Turfgrass Specialist Steering committee have been identified. 5b. We completed survey questionnaires and are about to send a proposal to IRB.We expect to start the survey from November this year. 5c. Started survey of Atlanta area. Created an "eCognition" object based detection model, and labeled 6000 m2 for deep learning model training. Started training for a "Raster Vision" deep learning model.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Yu, S.H., Y.Q. Wu, L.L. Yan, D.L. Martin, J.Q. Moss, C.H. Fontanier, T.L. Fang, and H.X. Dong. 2019. Genetic and QTL mapping in an African bermudagrass population. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. November 10-13, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Godwin, C., Y.Q. Wu, and T.L. Fang. 2019. Genetic identity and diversity among experimental and commercial cultivars of vegetatively propagated turf bermudagrass as assessed with SSR markers. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. November 10-13, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Yu, S.H., Y.Q. Wu, L.L. Yan, D.L. Martin, J.Q. Moss, and C.H. Fontanier. 2019. Genetic variability of spring greenup and drought response in interspecific hybrid bermudagrass selections. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. November 10-13, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Counce, A., C. Fontanier, B. Dunn. 2020. Effects of reduced R:FR ratio on turfgrass seedling growth. ASHS National Conference. August 10-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kajla, A., C. Fontanier, L. Zhang, and Y. Wu. 2020. Photosynthetic Response of Warm-Season Grasses Under Reduced Light Conditions. ASHS National Conference. August 10-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kajla, A., C. Fontanier, Y. Wu, and B. Schwartz. 2020. Persistence of Twenty-Four Bermudagrasses Subjected to Structural Shade. ASHS National Conference. August 10-13.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kajla, A., C. Fontanier, L. Zhang, Y. Wu, A. Chandra, B. Schwartz, and S. Milla-Lewis. 2020. Effect of low light conditions on photosynthetic parameters of selected warm-season turfgrasses. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Meetings.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gopinath, L., J.Q. Moss, and Y. Wu. 2019. Screening bermudagrass for freeze tolerance under controlled environment conditions. In 2019 Agronomy abstracts. ASA, Madison, WI.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gopinath, L., J.Q. Moss, and Y. Wu. 2019. Bermudagrass drought tolerance vs avoidance. In 2019 Agronomy abstracts. ASA, Madison, WI.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Moss, J.Q., A. Ely, and Y. Wu. 2019. Drought response of seven common bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] selections. Southern Region of the American Society of Horticultural Science Annual Meetings, Birmingham, AL
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Schwartz, B., Worley, B., Peake, J., Fuhrman, N., (2020) Utilizing Key Players within Networks to Maximize Diffusion of innovations in Turfgrass Research. Poster presented at Crop and Soil Science Association Conference. Phoenix, AZ. Nov 10-13. Invited speaker for symposium
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Beatriz Tome Gouveia, Paul Raymer, Brian M. Schwartz, Kevin E. Kenworthy, J. Bryan Unruh, Charles Fontanier, Antonio C. M. Porto, Esteban F. Rios, and Susana R. Milla-Lewis. Performance and Genotype-by-Environment Interaction in seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) evaluated under shade conditions. CSSA 2020.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Greta Rockstad. Evaluation of UAV-based imagery for drought stress traits in St. Augustinegrass. Poster on ASA-CSSA-SSSA virtual annual meeting, November 10-13 2020
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: M. Chavarria, B. Wherley, R. Jessup, and A. Chandra. 20XX. Physiological Responses to Salinity among Warm-Season Turfgrasses of Contrasting Salinity Tolerance. Accepted w/ Revisions Journal of Agronomy & Crop Science.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: M. Chavarria, B. Wherley, R. Jessup, and A. Chandra. 2020. Leaf anatomical responses and chemical composition of warm-season turfgrasses to increasing salinity. Current Plant Biology 22: 100147 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2020.100147
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: M. Chavarria, B. Wherley, A. Chandra, and P. Raymer. 2019. Salinity tolerance and recovery attributes in warm-season turfgrasses. HortScience 54:9: 1625-1631. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13963-19
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Xu, Yi, Jin Zhang, Jinping Zhao, Junqi Song, and Qingyi Yu. 2020. An Improved Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) System in Zoysiagrass. In RNA-Based Technologies For Functional Genomics in Plants, edited by Guiliang Tang, Sachin Teotia, and Deepali Singh. Springer (in press).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gouveia, B.T. G., E.F. Rios, J.A. Nunez, S. Gezan, P. Munoz, K. Kenworthy, J. Unruh, G. Miller, S. Milla-Lewis, B. Schwartz, P. Raymer, A. Chandra, B. Wherley, Y. Wu, D. Martin and J. Moss. 2020. Multi-Species Genotype-by-Environment Interaction for Turfgrass Quality in Five Turfgrass Breeding Programs in the Southeastern United States. Crop Science accepted with revisions.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gouveia, B.T. G., E.F. Rios, J.A. Nunez, S. Gezan, P. Munoz, K. Kenworthy, J. Unruh, G. Miller, S. Milla-Lewis, B. Schwartz, P. Raymer, A. Chandra, B. Wherley, Y. Wu, D. Martin and J. Moss. 2020. Genotype-by-Environment Interaction for Turfgrass Quality in Bermudagrass Across the Southeastern United States. Crop Science. 2020;1-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20260
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Fang, T.L., H.X. Dong, S.H. Yu, J.Q. Moss, C.H. Fontanier, D.L. Martin, J. Fu, and Y.Q. Wu. 2020. Sequence-based genetic mapping of Cynodon dactylon Pers. reveals new insights into genome evolution in Poaceae. Communications Biology. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-1086-y
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: 8. Ge, Candi, Chanjin Chung, Tracy A. Boyer, and Marco A. Palma. Estimating Producers' Preferences for Turfgrass Attributes: A Combined Approach Using Discrete Choice Experiments and Eye-Tracking Technology. HortScience, 2020
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Qi P, Eudy D, Schnable JC, Schmutz J, Raymer PL, Devos KM (2019) High density genetic maps of seashore paspalum using genotyping-by-sequencing and their relationship to the Sorghum bicolor genome. Scientific Reports 9: 12183
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Spiekerman JJ, Devos KM (2020) The halophyte seashore paspalum used adaxial leaf papillae for sodium sequestration. Plant Physiology (accepted)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Minor J, Campbell B, Waltz C, Berning J (2020) Water savings and return on investment of a new drought resistant turfgrass. J. Environ. Hort. 38:56-62