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Publication Date
1977
Description
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) is widely distributed in the U.S. and is important in grassland agriculture as pasture and in the urban environment as turf. Cultivar development in P. pratensis is slowed by a reproductive process that allows very few gametes to recombine (facultative apomixis). New approaches are needed to circumvent this limitation on breeding new cultivars. A fundamentally different approach to improvement is to induce mutations in vegetative buds of rhizomes, select the resulting mutations and increase them by seed (caryopses). The highly apomictic character of this species would maintain the mutant unchanged. This paper reports the results of experiments on 'Belturf, a genetically welldefined selection of Kentucky bluegrass. A total of 38 mutants were selected from approximately 3,000 plant propagules derived from gamma-ray treated rhizomes. Seeds collected from mutant plants gave progeny with 3.4 % aberrant plants unlike their maternal parent while the control gave 4 %- The percent sexuality indicated by aberrant plants was not significantly changed in the mutants when compared to the controls, indicating that mutations can be fixed and propagated by seed. We believe that the vegetative bud technique is a promising breeding technique for P. pratensis L.
Citation
Powell, Jerrel B. and Murray, J J., "The vegetative bud mutation technique for breeding improved Poa pratensis L." (1977). IGC Proceedings (1977-2023). 14.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1977/sess2/14)
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The vegetative bud mutation technique for breeding improved Poa pratensis L.
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) is widely distributed in the U.S. and is important in grassland agriculture as pasture and in the urban environment as turf. Cultivar development in P. pratensis is slowed by a reproductive process that allows very few gametes to recombine (facultative apomixis). New approaches are needed to circumvent this limitation on breeding new cultivars. A fundamentally different approach to improvement is to induce mutations in vegetative buds of rhizomes, select the resulting mutations and increase them by seed (caryopses). The highly apomictic character of this species would maintain the mutant unchanged. This paper reports the results of experiments on 'Belturf, a genetically welldefined selection of Kentucky bluegrass. A total of 38 mutants were selected from approximately 3,000 plant propagules derived from gamma-ray treated rhizomes. Seeds collected from mutant plants gave progeny with 3.4 % aberrant plants unlike their maternal parent while the control gave 4 %- The percent sexuality indicated by aberrant plants was not significantly changed in the mutants when compared to the controls, indicating that mutations can be fixed and propagated by seed. We believe that the vegetative bud technique is a promising breeding technique for P. pratensis L.
