| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
a Pure Seed Testing, Inc., P.O. Box 449, Hubbard, OR
b Pure Seed Testing, Inc., P.O. Box 176, Rolesville, NC 27571
c Plant Science Dep., NJAES, Cook College, Rutgers Univ., 59 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520
* Corresponding author (mlkfraser{at}aol.com)
‘Blackstone’ Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) (Reg. no. CV-60, PI 606793) was released by Pure Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, OR, in 1997. Pure Seed Testing, Inc. developed Blackstone using germplasm obtained from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES). The first Certified seed was produced in 1999. Blackstone was tested under the experimental designation PST-638.
Blackstone originated from a single highly apomictic plant selected from the progeny of the cross Warren's A-25/‘Blacksburg’. Warren's A-25, the maternal parent, was selected from an old turf located on a golf course near Chicago, IL. Warren's A-25 is a vigorous, very aggressive selection with a medium-green color, good turf performance and good resistance to leaf spot [caused by Drechslera poae (Baudys) Shoem.] and stripe smut [caused by Ustilago striiformis (Westend.) Niessl]. Warren's A-25 is highly sexual in reproductive behavior and is reported to have 37 ± 1 somatic chromosomes (Dale et al., 1975). Blacksburg, the paternal parent of Blackstone, was selected from a closely mowed turf near Blacksburg, VA. It is a highly apomictic, dark green, compact, turf-type Kentucky bluegrass with good resistance to stripe smut and leaf spot.
Plants of Warren's A-25 and Blacksburg were removed from spaced-plant field nurseries and placed in pots in a cool greenhouse on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, during the late winter of 1979. Daylength was extended to promote flowering prior to mass-pollination of Warren's A-25 with pollen from Blacksburg. Seedlings from this cross were established in a field nursery at the Plant Science Research and Extension Facility of Rutgers University at Adelphia, NJ, during late summer of 1979. Promising hybrids were identified during June 1980. Seed harvested from these hybrids was used to establish single-plant progeny turf plots at Adelphia during late summer of 1980. Plot A80-1876 was the first turf plot of Blackstone. Additional turf trials of Blackstone were established at North Brunswick, NJ, or Adelphia in 1984, 1991, and 1992. Propagules of Blackstone were sent to Pure Seed Testing, Inc., near Hubbard, for seed yield and additional turf evaluation. The first Breeder seed of Blackstone was produced near Hubbard in 1995.
Blackstone is a facultative apomict with approximately 95% of its progeny appearing to be genetically identical to the maternal parent. Aberrant plants produced by Blackstone are typical of aberrants produced by most cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass, being smaller and weaker than the maternal-type plants originating through apomictic reproduction. Because of the facultative apomixis characteristic of Kentucky bluegrass, these aberrants can be expected to occur whenever seed is produced (Hintzen and van Wijk, 1985; Pepin and Funk, 1971). Most aberrants exhibit obvious morphological differences from the maternal plants in terms of size, growth habit, color, leaf texture, maturity, and panicle characteristics. Nearly all aberrants are crowded out in lawn-type turf and have virtually no affect on appearance, uniformity, or performance of established turf.
Blackstone is a very dark, blue-green Kentucky bluegrass with reduced vertical growth and early spring green-up. It has performed well in turf trials across the USA (Morris and Shearman, 1998). Blackstone has good winter color compared to most Kentucky bluegrass cultivars and has shown good resistance to summer patch (caused by Magnaporthe poae Landschoot and Jackson), leaf spot, powdery mildew (caused by Erysiphe graminis DC), dollar spot (caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F.T. Bennett), and stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis Pers.:Pers).
Blackstone Kentucky bluegrass was developed for turf purposes. It is recommended for lawns, parks, golf course roughs, and sports turfs. Blackstone may be planted as a monostand, in blends with other turf-type Kentucky bluegrasses, or in mixtures with turf-type perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) or tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.).
Becaue of its highly apomictic mode of reproduction, Blackstone produces seed with identical genetic characteristics during each cycle of seed increase. To assure uniformity, variants and off-types are rogued from Breeder seed nurseries and seed stock fields. Pure Seed Testing, Inc. maintains Breeder seed of Blackstone in Oregon. Seed propagation is limited to three generations of increase from Breeder seed: one each of Foundation, Registered, and Certified. U.S. Plant Variety Protection of Blackstone has been applied for (PVP application no. 9900084).
NOTES
Accepted for publication July 31, 2001.
REFERENCES
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| The SCI Journals | Agronomy Journal | Vadose Zone Journal | |||
| Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education |
Soil Science Society of America Journal | ||||
| Journal of Plant Registrations | Journal of Environmental Quality |
The Plant Genome | |||
