Foliage freeze tolerance trait diversity in bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge)

摘要

Abstract Freeze protection of bahiagrass in subtropical pastures might be accomplished through genetic improvement of existing diploid (sexual) cultivars, if clones with a leaf freeze tolerance trait (FT) could be confirmed. Clones originally identified as having FT under field conditions were compared under controlled temperatures to confirm those clones that specifically expressed a FT trait. An initial study was undertaken to determine whether damage induced by placing potted plants in freezing temperatures was confounded by low soil temperature, or leaf damage was directly a result of leaf freeze damage. This experiment confirmed that FT was a result of leaf tolerance to freeze injury, not root damage. Stress treatment of 10 h duration at successively colder temperatures (‐1°C, ‐3°C, ‐5°C, and ‐7°C) was evaluated on 26 clones grown in pots. Substantial variation in FT was observed among these clones, with ‘FL67’ being significantly more tolerant, even to temperatures as low as ‐7°C. An additional comp...