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Fatty acid metabolism may be involved in plant adaptation to drought stress. The objective of this study was to identify saturated and unsaturated fatty acids associated with leaf dehydration tolerance by comparing fatty acid composition and unsaturation levels at equivalent leaf water status of two bermudagrass genotypes contrasting in drought resistance. A drought-resistant hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis) genotype (‘Tifway’) and a drought-sensitive bermudagrass (C. dactylon) genotype (‘C299’) were maintained under well-watered (control) or water-withheld (drought) conditions. Drought treatment was imposed until soil water content decreased to 5% or leaf relative water content (RWC) dropped to 28% to 29%. ‘Tifway’ maintained higher RWC and lower electrolyte leakage (EL) at 5 and 10 days of drought stress. Leaves of ‘Tifway’ maintained lower EL when RWC of both genotypes declined to the same level of water deficit (28% to 29%) by the end of drought periods. The degree of fatty acid unsaturation, expressed as the double bond index, decreased in both genotypes during drought stress, which was mainly associated with the decline in linoleic (C18:2) and linolenic acids (C18:3) and an increase in palmitic (C16:0) and stearic acids (C18:0). A lipid composition characterized by a greater amount of unsaturated fatty acids was detected in ‘Tifway’ relative to ‘C299’ exposed to the same level of water deficit, mainly as a result of a greater content of C18:2 and a lower content of C16:0 and C18:0. Our results suggest that the ability to maintain a greater composition of unsaturated fatty acids in membrane lipids may contribute to superior leaf dehydration tolerance in bermudagrass.

Heat is a major factor limiting growth of C₃ grass species. Elevated CO₂ may mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress or enhance heat tolerance. The objective of this study was to determine metabolic changes associated with improvement of heat tolerance by elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Plants (cv. Rembrandt) were exposed to ambient day/night temperature (25/20 °C) or heat stress (35/30 °C) and ambient CO₂ concentration (400 ± 10 μmol·mol⁻¹) or double ambient CO₂ concentration (800 ± 10 μmol·mol⁻¹) in growth chambers. Turf quality (TQ), shoot growth rate, and leaf electrolyte leakage results demonstrated that heat stress at ambient CO₂ concentration inhibits turf growth and reduces cell membrane stability, whereas heat-stressed plants under elevated CO₂ concentration exhibit improved TQ, shoot growth rate, and membrane stability. Plants exposed to heat stress under elevated CO₂ exhibited a significantly greater amount of several organic acids (shikimic acid, malonic acid, threonic acid, glyceric acid, galactaric acid, and citric acid), amino acids (serine, valine, and 5-oxoproline), and carbohydrates (sucrose and maltose) compared with heat-stressed plants at ambient CO₂. The increased production or maintenance of metabolites with important biological functions such as those involved in photosynthesis, respiration, and protein metabolism could play a role in elevated CO₂ mitigation of heat stress damage. Therefore, elevated CO₂ conditions may contribute to improved heat stress tolerance as exhibited by better TQ and shoot growth of heat-stressed plants. Practices to harness the power of CO₂ may be incorporated into turfgrass management for plant adaptation to increasing temperatures, particularly during summer months.

The accumulation of different types of metabolites may reflect variations in plant adaptation to different severities or durations of drought stress. The objectives of this project are to examine changes in metabolomic profiles and determine predominant metabolites in response to short-term (6 days) and long-term (18 days) drought stress with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis in a C₄ perennial grass species. Plants of hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis cv. Tifdwarf) were unirrigated for 18 days to induce drought stress in growth chambers. Physiological responses to drought stress were evaluated by visual rating of grass quality, relative water content, photochemical efficiency, and electrolyte leakage (EL). All parameters decreased significantly at 6 and 18 days of drought stress, except EL, which increased with the duration of drought stress. Under short-term drought stress (6 days), the content did not change significantly for most metabolites, except methionine, serine, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), isoleucine, and mannose. Most metabolites showed higher accumulation under long-term drought stress compared with that under the well-watered conditions, including three organic acids (malic acid, galacturonic acid, and succinic acid), 10 amino acids (proline, asparagine, phenylalanine, methionine, serine, 5-hydroxynorvaline, GABA, glycine, theorine, valine), seven sugars (sucrose, glucose, galactose, fructose, mannose, maltose, xylose), one nitrogen compound (ethanolamine), and two-sugar alcohol (myo-inositol). The accumulation of those metabolites, especially malic acid, proline, and sucrose, could be associated with drought adaptation of C₄ hybrid bermudagrass to long-term or severe drought stress.