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- Author or Editor: Zhaolong Wang x
- HortScience x
Turf quality of creeping bentgrass (Agrotis palustris L.) often declines during summer months. Reducing soil temperature alleviates bentgrass quality decline at supraoptimal air temperatures. The objective of this study was to investigate whether reducing soil temperature during the night is more effective than during the day in improving shoot and root growth when air temperature was supraoptimal for creeping bentgrass. The experiment was conducted in growth chambers using water baths to manipulate soil temperatures. Plants were exposed to the following temperature treatments: 1) optimal air and soil temperature during the day and night (20/20 °C, day/night, control); 2) high air and soil temperature during the day and night (35/35 °C, day/night); 3) lower soil temperatures during the day (20/35, 25/35, and 30/35 °C, day/night); and 4) lower soil temperature during the night (35/20, 35/25, and 35/30 °C) while air temperature was maintained at 35 °C during the day and night. Turf quality (on 1-9 scale) increased to the level of 6.5, 3.0, and 2.5 by reducing day soil temperature to 20, 25, or 30 °C, respectively, at 28 days of treatment, compared to the quality of 2.0 at 35/35 °C. Turf quality increased from 2.0 at 35/35 °C to 7.0, 6.0, and 4.5, respectively, by 28 days of exposure to night temperatures of 20, 25, and 30 °C. Chlorophyll content, root number, and root weight also were increased by reducing day or night soil temperature, and the increases were more pronounced for reduced night temperatures than day temperatures. These results demonstrated that reduced night soil temperature was more effective than reduced day soil temperature in improving shoot and root growth in creeping bentgrass under high air temperature conditions.
The objective of this study was to compare differential nutrient responses to heat stress in relation to heat tolerance for warm-season (C4) common bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] and cool-season (C3) kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Both species were exposed to two temperature regimes in growth chambers: optimal day/night temperature conditions (24/20 °C for kentucky bluegrass and 34/30 °C for bermudagrass) or heat stress (10 °C above the respective optimal temperature for each species). Heat injury in leaves was evaluated and the concentrations of several major macronutrients [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg)] in both grass species were measured at 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days of treatment. Heat stress reduced leaf photochemical efficiency and cellular membrane stability in both species, but bermudagrass leaves exhibited less damage in these parameters than kentucky bluegrass. Heat stress caused a significant decline in N, P, and K concentration, beginning at 7 days in kentucky bluegrass, but had no significant effects on N, P, and K concentration in bermudagrass during the 28-day treatment period. The concentration of Ca and Mg increased under heat stress in both kentucky bluegrass and bermudagrass, but there were no significant differences between the species under optimal or high-temperature conditions, suggesting they were not involved in heat responses in either species. The differential responses of N, P, and K to heat stress could at least partially account for the differences in heat tolerance between the two species and demonstrate the importance of sufficient N, P, and K in turfgrass adaptation to heat stress.
Salinity is a detrimental abiotic stress for plant growth in salt-affected soils. The objective of this study was to examine photosynthetic responses to salinity stress in two warm-season turfgrasses differing in salinity tolerance. Salt-tolerant species seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) and salt-sensitive species centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides) were exposed to salinity at three NaCl concentrations (0, 300, and 500 mm) in a growth chamber. Turf quality, relative water content (RWC), and leaf photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) declined, whereas electrolyte leakage (EL) increased under the two NaCl regimes for both grass species, and the changes were more dramatic in centipedegrass than that in seashore paspalum as well as in the higher salinity concentration. Two grass species showed different phytosynthetic responses to salinity stress. The earlier inhibition of photosynthesis in seashore paspalum was mainly associated with stomatal closure. As salinity increased and salinity stress prolonged, the inhibition of photosynthesis in seashore paspalum was mainly associated with non-stomatal factors. The inhibition of photosynthesis in centipedegrass was associated with both stomatal closure and non-stomatal factors at both salinity levels. The sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis demonstrated the Rubisco large subunit had no obvious decrease during the whole stress period under the 300-mm and 500-mm treatments in seashore paspalum, whereas it significantly decreased in centipedegrass under both the 300-mm and 500-mm treatments. The results indicated that the superior salinity tolerance in seashore paspalum, compared with centipedegrass, could be attributed to its maintenance of Rubisco stability, chlorophyll content, photochemical efficiency as well as photosynthetic rate (Pn) capacity under salinity stress.
Drought is a major factor limiting plant growth, which has been associated with the accumulation of absicsic acid (ABA) in various species. The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between ABA accumulation and drought tolerance for kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) during short-term drought stress. Eight kentucky bluegrass cultivars (`Midnight', `A82-204', `RSP', `Alpine', `Moonlight', `Brilliant', `Washington', and `Baruzo') were subjected to drought stress in a growth chamber. Water relations, gas exchange rate, and ABA content of leaves were determined at various times during drought stress. Turf quality decreased with drought duration for all eight cultivars. Leaf ABA content increased linearly with drought stress within 11 days of treatment; the rate of the increase was negatively related to the rate of turf quality decline. The rate of ABA accumulation during drought stress was positively correlated with the rates of decrease in turf quality (r 2 = 0.6346), increase in electrolyte leakage (r 2 = 0.7128), and decrease in relative water content (r 2 = 0.5913). There were highly significant negative correlations between ABA content and leaf water potential (r 2 = 0.9074), stomatal conductance (r 2 = 0.6088), transpiration rate (r 2 = 0.6581), net photosynthesis rate (r 2 = 0.6956), and a positive correlation between ABA content and electrolyte leakage (r 2 = 0.7287). The results indicate that drought tolerance is negatively related to ABA accumulation during shortterm drought stress. ABA accumulation in response to drought stress could be used as a metabolic factor to select for drought tolerance in kentucky bluegrass.