GROWING THE UNL TURFGRASS BREEDING & RESEARCH PROGRAM

By Suz Trusty

Editor’s note: Tis is the third in a series of articles covering university reports on their turfgrass breeding and research programs. If your University is involved in turfgrass breeding, please contact suztrusty@TurfGrassSod.org for the opportunity to feature your program in an upcoming issue of Turf News.

Te buffalograss breeding program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) was established in the mid-1980s through a cooperative agreement with the United State Golf Association (USGA). Te goal was to leverage buffalograss’s tolerance to low inputs and develop it into a species with suitable quality for the golf industry. Tis partnership continues and UNL has, and continues to make significant advancements toward that goal. Heading the program since May of 2011 is Dr. Keenan Amundsen, UNL assistant professor and turfgrass geneticist.

Highly stoloniferous buffalograss clone selected for its dense canopy and short stolon internode length. Photo by Dr. Keenan Amundsen

cultivars. My lab's research is focused on enhancing buffalograss performance, seed yield, sod characteristics, and stress tolerance. At a basic research level we are applying genetics and computational biology tools to advance buffalograss breeding efficiency, develop improved cultivars, and understand the genetic components contributing to turf traits and stress tolerance.”

Dr. Keenan Amundsen extracts DNA for genetic marker development and testing. Photo by Liqi Li

After earning a B.S. in mathematics, Amundsen opted for a career that involved more than numbers. He earned his B.S. degree in crop and soil sciences at Michigan State University (MSU). He then evaluated where he could make an impact in the turfgrass industry and focused on breeding. He remained at MSU, earning an M.S. degree while working as a research assistant in molecular biology to improve those skills. His next step was a research assistant position with Dr. Scott Warnke, research geneticist with the USDA, at the National Arboretum in Beltsville, MD, working on enhancement of turfgrass germplasm for reduced input sustainability. While there, he earned his Ph.D. in bioinformatics and computational biology at George Mason University.

Molecular Biology at Work All of this equipped him for his current position. “My primary research objective is to develop improved buffalograss

TPI Turf News July/August 2016

Describing himself as a “sequencing nerd,” Amundsen explains his complex research of transcriptomics as “using new molecular tools to analyze DNA genome structure and architecture of a plant, and to determine what genes are turned on in a sequence of DNA fragments that segregate with a trait of interest, and identify genetic markers associated with a specific trait. Turfgrasses are often highly polyploid species with hundreds to thousands of genes involved with a specific plant’s reaction to a given stress and its level of resistance to that stress. Te molecular analysis enables us to do genotyping, finding the patterns of markers that are associated with a trait, and thus select the right progeny to develop to produce a variety with that trait. We can test for a trait and in a week or two narrow the options to select a limited number, 20 or so, plants with the potential to carry that trait. It would normally take years of research in the greenhouse and in the field to reach that point.”

Amundsen notes the technology and the methods have been used for years in grain grasses, such as corn, wheat and rice. “In turf systems, we’re working with a sodded type plant that is clonally propagated, rather than a row crop that is seeded, so there are multiple differences, but we can adapt the tools for the systems we work in,” he says. “Our research strives to identify new sources of host resistance or improved quality. Ten we can select plants with those traits and cross them with elite germplasm to interject those traits into our breeding program.”

45