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a USDA-ARS, 344 Keim Hall, P.O. Box 830937, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0937
b USDA-NRCS, North Dakota State Office, 220 East Rosser Avenue, P.O. Box 1458, Bismarck, ND. 58502-1458
c D.D. Baltensperger, Panhandle Research & Extension Center, Univ. of Nebraska, 4502 Ave. I, Scottsbluff, NE 69361-4939
d High Plains Grasslands Research Station, USDA-ARS, 8408 Hildreth Road, Cheyenne, WY 82009-8899
e KSU Agricultural Research Center and Dep. Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State Univ., Hays, KS 67601
* Corresponding author (kpv{at}unlserve.unl.edu)
‘NU-ARS AC2’ crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn.–A. cristatum var. pectinatum (M. Bieb.) Tzvelev] (Reg. no. CV-28, PI 634507) is a broadly adapted, complex composite population produced by allowing selected plants from fairway-type germplasm accessions to randomly intermate. It originates from collections made by Douglas Dewey, USDA-ARS Plant Geneticist, in the former USSR in 1977. It was released in September 2002 by USDA-ARS; Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agricultural and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and the USDA-NRCS. NU-ARS AC2 was tested under the experimental designation NE AC2.
Seed of fairway-type crested wheatgrass accessions obtained from Dewey's collections were used to establish evaluation trials at Mead and Alliance, NE. Accessions were evaluated during the period 1979–1983 in space-transplanted evaluation trials. Four accessions with high forage yields, high in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), and overall superior forage evaluation ratings were identified. Superior plants of these accessions were visually selected in the evaluation nursery at Mead, NE, in 1985 prior to anthesis. All non-selected plants in the evaluation nursery were mowed prior to anthesis and seed was harvested and bulked from the selected plants. The Dewey accessions and the numbers of plants selected from each accession to form NU-ARS AC-2 were as follows: D-1458 (18), D-1462 (6), D-1610 (13), and D-1654 (9). The Dewey accessions have been entered into the USDA Plant Germplasm System. D-1458 was a single plant collection (D.R. Dewey, personal communication, 1980) which was combined with D-1457 to form PI 440062. D-1462 was a bulk collection and assigned PI 439922. Both PI 440062 and PI 439922 are fairway-like in appearance and were collected from a site 52 km southeast of Stavropol, Russia. PI 440062 has subsequently been classified as A. cristatum var. pectinatum and is a tetraploid. D-1610 was assigned PI 439926 and D-1654 was assigned PI 439929. PI 439926 and PI 439929 were classified as A. cristatum. PI 439926 was collected on a seeded site near Stavropol, Russia and believed to be the cultivar Krasnokovskii 305 (D.R. Dewey, personal communication, 1980). PI 439929, a diploid, was collected about 50 km southeast of Svetlograd, Russia. Bulked seed from selected plants was used to establish an increase nursery in the fall of 1985 at Mead, NE. Seed harvested from the increase nursery (Syn 2 generation) produced the synthesized population, NE AC2, which was used to plant evaluation trials.
NU-ARS AC2 was tested across several eco-regions (Bailey, 1995) in the Central and Northern Great Plains at the following sites; Prairie (Mead, NE), Steppe (Hays, KS; Ft. Pierre, SD), Dry Steppe (Sidney, NE; Cheyenne, WY; Hettinger, ND) during the period 1990–1997. In both the Central and Northern Plains locations, NU-ARS AC2 had greater average forage yields than the other fairway-type crested wheatgrass entries and was equivalent to the best standard crested wheatgrass cultivars. The in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and protein content of NU-ARS AC2 was similar to that of the other strains and cultivars evaluated. Seed yields were 200 and 260 kg ha–1 in 2000 and 2001, respectively, under rainfed conditions at Mead, NE.
NU-ARS AC2 has an erect, caespitose growth habit typical of crested wheatgrasses. Its culms and leaves are glabrous and non-glacuous, and leaf margins are smooth. Leaves are green-yellow or Munsell 5GY 4/4 (Munsell Color, 1977). Sheaths have ligules, sheath margins are smooth, and auricles are absent. Spikes are dense, tapering, erect, and have green, lanceolate, awned glumes. At 41° N lat. in the central Great Plains, NU-ARS AC2 heads the last 10 d of May. Approximately 95% of the plants in a population of NU-ARS AC2 are diploids, the remainder are tetraploids. No triploids were identified in almost 100 seedlings produced from Breeder seed. Although NU-ARS AC2 is genetically heterogeneous, it is similar in phenotypic uniformity to other fairway-type crested wheatgrasses. It is typically about 3–5 cm taller in height than A. cristatum cultivars such as Fairway or Parkway and 10 to 12 cm in height shorter than A. desertorum or standard crested wheatgrass cultivars such as HyCrest and Nordan. Spike length is shorter and spike width is greater than standard crested wheatgrass cultivars. NU-ARS AC-2 is adapted to USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3, 4, and 5 (Cathey, 1990).
Breeder seed will be jointly maintained and produced as needed by USDA-ARS and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with random mated isolations based on the Syn 2 Breeder seed. Foundation seed production of NU-ARS AC2 will be managed by the Nebraska Foundation Seed Division, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583. Foundation seed will be made available for Certified seed production on a non-exclusive basis to seed producers who contractually agree to produce and market the seed only as Certified seed using cultivar name NU-ARS AC2. A fee for technology development and transfer will be assessed by the University of Nebraska. Limited amounts of seed for research purposes will be provided upon written request to the corresponding author. Recipients are asked to recognize the source if it contributes to the development of a cultivar or germplasm or is used for other research purposes. U.S. Plant Variety Protection will be sought for NU-ARS AC2.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Appreciation for the technical support of Keith Glewen, James Kube, Patrick Callahan, Steve Masterson, Marty Schmer, and Kevin Grams is acknowledged.
NOTES
Accepted for publication June 30, 2004.
REFERENCES
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