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Inheritance of Dry Matter Digestibility in Bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.¹

Heritabilities were estimated for dry matter digestibilities (DMD) of forage samples. The samples were collected from 5 to 11 harvests, of 148 germudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) selections and F₁ hybrids evaluated in three clipping tests from 1962 to 1969. DMD was measured by the nylon bag or in vitro techniques. Heritabilities for a seasonal average of two to four clippings ranged from .27 to .69 indicating that the DMD of bermudagrass can be increased by breeding. F2 hybrids between ‘Coastal’ bermuda and high or low DMD parents had average DMDs similar to the mean DMDs of the two parents. F₂ hybrids between ‘Midland’ bermuda and ‘Kenya 61’ had average DMD values 1.8 to 2.8 percentage points lower than the parental average. In most hybrid populations, the best F₁ was nearly equal if not superior to its best parent in DMD. The two-year average IVDMDs of 5-week-old second-harvest forage samples taken from a world collection of over 500 bermudagrasses ranged from 40 to 69%. DMD in bermudagrass appears to be conditioned by a number of genes that exhibit little if any dominance. Additional index words:

Key Words: NBDMD • IVDMD • Genetic variance • Genetic CV • Heritability • Bermudagrass world collection • Multiple factor inheritance

² Research Geneticist and Research Agronomist, Plant Science Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Georgia, College of Agriculture Experiment Stations, Coastal Plain Station, Tifton, Georgia 31794.

Received for publication December 3, 1971.