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Rapid Flowering under Greenhouse Conditions and Lack of Awns Are Widespread among Tetraploid Elymus Species

^a Forage Improvement Division, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., Ardmore, OK 73401
^b Monsanto Co., St. Louis, MO 63167

^* Corresponding author (aahopkins{at}noble.org).

A strong vernalization requirement can increase the amount of time needed per breeding cycle for cool season grasses, and the presence of awns can be an eye irritant to grazing livestock. Our objective was to identify awnless tetraploid (2n = 4x = 28) Elymus accessions capable of flowering quickly and consistently in the greenhouse. A total of 244 accessions, encompassing 27 Elymus species and subspecies, were evaluated during three different time periods in the greenhouse at Ardmore, OK. Heading date of accessions ranged from 53 to 90 d after planting, with 175 accessions representing 20 species or subspecies, flowering within 90 d of planting in the greenhouse. Eighty-eight accessions, representing 11 species or subspecies, were awnless or awnletted (i.e., awns <1 mm). Across all three time periods, 56 awnless accessions, representing nine species or subspecies, consistently flowered within 90 d of planting. Thus, a wide array of awnless tetraploid Elymus accessions that can consistently and rapidly flower in the greenhouse are available. Some of these accessions are being used to attempt to introgress the awnless trait into an elite breeding line of Canada wildrye (Elymus canadensis L.).

Abbreviations: CWR, Canada wildrye • GRIN, Germplasm Resource Information Network • NPGS, USDA National Plant Germplasm System

Received for publication September 11, 2007.

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				Compiled by, F. Tooke, T. Chiurugwi, and N. Battey Flowering Newsletter bibliography for 2008 J. Exp. Bot., June 23, 2009; (2009) erp154v1. [Full Text] [PDF]