DEVELOPMENT OF GENETIC, GENOMIC AND MOLECULAR RESOURCES TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE, ADAPTABILITY AND UTILITY OF COOL SEASON GRASSES AND COVER CROPS

The long-term objective of this project is to improve the performance of grasses and cover crops. Specifically, during the next five years we will focus on the following objectives. Objective 1: Develop cover crops with increased performance and adaptability in end use environments. Sub-objective 1A: Develop tools to select for acidic soil syndrome tolerant plants and breed tolerant annual ryegrass germplasm. (Hayes) ¿ Sub-objective 1B: Improve annual ryegrass winter cover crop germplasm for reliable spring termination. (Hayes, Martin) Objective 2: Identify disease resistant germplasm in cool season grass species. ¿ Sub-objective 2A: Evaluate grass cultivars (cvs) for susceptibility to Barley Yellow Dwarf Viruses. (Dombrowski, Martin) ¿ Sub-objective 2B: Identify and evaluate choke resistant germplasm in orchardgrass. (Dombrowski, Martin) ¿ Sub-objective 2C: Develop stem rust resistant germplasm and breeding tools in perennial ryegrass and determine the potential durability of resistance. (Hayes) Objective 3: Isolate endophytes from grasses found in arid regions to identify novel endophytes that improve persistence and performance of forage and turf related grasses in environments with limited water resources. Objective 4: Develop genetic and molecular resources that can be applied to reduce the impact of abiotic stresses on the adaptability and performance of grasses in diverse environments. ¿ Sub-objective 4A: Sequence and annotate Lolium sp. genome for development of a public genome database. (Dombrowski, Martin) ¿ Sub-objective 4B: Identify genes or pathways common to stress responses in multiple types of abiotic stress. (Dombrowski, Martin) ¿ Sub-objective 4C: Evaluate Brachypodium overexpressing transcription factors for improved abiotic stress tolerance. (Dombrowski, Martin)