North Carolina Turfgrass - September / October 2018

September/October 2018

A Publication of the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina

Green Light on Disease

Transgenic Approaches for

Improved Brown Patch Resistance T4 Lysozyme Transgenic Tall Fescue Plants are

Highly Resistant to Gray Leaf Spot Disease

Use

Enjoy

less

MorE

Saving you water, saving you money, saving the environment.

(888) 368-1125

(252) 437-1501

(910) 567-2625

(866) 428-9763

(910) 673-2177

North Carolina Turfgrass is the official publication of the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina 110 Horizon Drive Suite 210 Raleigh, NC 27615 919-459-2070 fax 919-459-2075 www.ncturfgrass.org

Executive Director Anna Brooks Whichard, CAE IMI Association Executives annabrooks@imiae.com 919-459-2070

14

Published by: Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, TN 37064 615-790-3718 fax 615-794-4524 info@leadingedge communications.com

TCNC OFFICERS President

table of contents September/October 2018

14 Cover Story

Transgenic Approaches for Improved Brown Patch Resistance

From the President, Damon Dean TCNC Membership Application New TCNC Members

18 Green Light

Calendar of Events

on Disease

TCNC Career Hub

T4 Lysozyme Transgenic Tall Fescue Plants are Highly Resistant to Gray Leaf Spot Disease

TCNC Deluxe Members Index of Advertisers NC State Turf Team

6 7 9 9 10 12 22 22

The Turfgrass Council of North Carolina (TCNC) serves its members in the industry through education, promotion and representation. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, its staff, or its board of directors, North Carolina Turfgrass, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or TCNC members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this bimonthly publication. Copyright Š 2018 by the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina. North Carolina Turfgrass is published bi-monthly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of TCNC. Presorted standard postage is paid at Nashville, TN. Printed in the U.S.A. Reprints and Submissions: North Carolina Turfgrass allows reprinting of material published here. Permission requests should be directed to TCNC. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information. Advertising: For display and classified advertising rates and insertions, please contact Leading Edge Communications, LLC, 206 Bridge Street, Franklin, TN 37064, 615-790-3718, Fax 615-794-4524.

4

North Carolina Turfg r a s s

n

w w w . n c t u r f g r a s s . o rg

n

September/October 2018

Damon Dean Keith Hills Country Club West End, NC 910-893-1372

Vice President Gene Queen Nature’s Select Premium Turf Services Winston-Salem, NC 336-768-7999

Past President Billy Cole Raleigh Country Club Raleigh, NC 919-427-0312

Treasurer Kevin Herrmann Fairway Green, Inc. Raleigh, NC 919-818-9640

Directors

H. Dean Baker Kinston Country Club Kinston, NC David Bradley, NCCTP Turf Mountain Sod, Inc. Hendersonville, NC Michael Hrivnak, NCCTP Canopy Lawn Care Raleigh, NC Jonathan Richardson, NCCTP Green Resource Dunn, NC

From the President

Pride T

his summer has been a very interesting one to say the least.

The amount of rainfall that areas of this state have seen is unbelievable. Here at the facility where I am employed, we saw five inches of rain in less than 45 minutes. The weather patterns have been very eye opening this year. I guess extreme weather is

the new norm. I am writing this message on the eve of hurricane Florence making landfall in North Carolina. My prayers go out to all who are affected by this storm. This is a reminder of how small we really are in this world.

With the hurricane approaching, the number of people ready to lend a helping hand is amazing. This makes me feel

proud to live here in North Carolina. I received multiple messages this morning of people willing to volunteer and help my staff with clean-up at our facility after the storm. This makes me feel proud of our state and local communities because of all the people willing to lend a helping hand: the first responders on standby from all over the state waiting for the call, the reinforcement of linemen from power companies from surrounding states that are on the way. During times of disaster people are always willing to help each other and that is a great feeling.

In this industry, the vendors we deal with have been awesome. They were keeping us informed of their schedules so they still could fulfill our needs. They were also communicating with us ideas about prepping the properties we maintain. The salesmen I talked to were wide open, running the road, delivering product to us so we could prepare our turf and properties. Something like this hurricane makes you realize how important friends and family are. Once the storm passes, whatever damage has occurred, I feel everyone will lend a helping hand to the ones in need. During situations like this, communities pull together. I think that is just human nature. I am a firm believer in hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. Be safe.

God Bless.

Damon Dean, CGCS

2017–2018 TCNC President

6

North Carolina Turfg r a s s

n

w w w . n c t u r f g r a s s . o rg

n

September/October 2018

Turfgrass Council of North Carolina 110 Horizon Drive, Suite 210, Raleigh, NC 27615 Phone: (919) 459-2070 • Fax: (919) 459-2075 www.ncturfgrass.org • info@ncturfgrass.org

TCNC Membership Information The TCNC membership year is July 1 to June 30 with annual renewal dues due in full at the end of each membership year to continue receiving membership features and benefits. New member dues are based on date of application: [Jul-Sep 100% of annual dues] [Oct-Dec 25% off] [Jan-Mar 50% off] [Apr-Jun 100% of annual dues which includes all of following membership year]

Regular Membership

Educator Membership

(Annual Dues – $125) • Membership Certificate • Use of TCNC logo and current year membership decal for use on business materials • Listing in the public-facing TCNC Membership Directory • TCNC News, Member Alerts and Announcements • Access to the Members-Only section of website • Free job postings in TCNC Career Hub • TCNC Website Advertising Opportunities

(Annual Dues – $0) Complimentary educator members are educators and extension agents who are in a position to promote TCNC and the NC Certified Turfgrass Professional (NCCTP) program as they encounter turfgrass professionals in their work. We additionally ask that extension agents make themselves available to proctor the NCCTP exam for candidates. Educator members are nonvoting members.

• Membership Certificate • Use of TCNC logo and current year membership decal for use on business materials • Listing in the public-facing TCNC Membership Directory • TCNC News, Member Alerts and Announcements • Access to the Members-Only section of website

Student Membership (Annual Dues – $25) • Membership Certificate • Use of the current year TCNC membership electronic decal • Listing in the public-facing TCNC Member Directory • TCNC News, Member Alerts and Announcements • Access to Members-Only Section of TCNC website • Eligible for TCNC scholarships and are directly notified when applications become available • New graduates of turf and landscape programs are invited to join as an Individual Member upon graduation and receive free NCCTP enrollment ($250 value) if enrolled and take the NCCTP exam within six months of graduation • Student members must submit copy of their current Student ID with application and renewals in order to maintain a Student Membership

Deluxe (Company) Membership (Annual Dues Start at $425) • Use of TCNC logo and current year membership decal for use on business materials and company website • Listing in the public-facing TCNC Membership Directory • TCNC news, member alerts and announcements • Access to the members-only section of website • Free job postings in TCNC Career Hub

Deluxe Memberships are offered in three tiers: • I ndividual memberships for 1–5 employees (Annual Dues $425) • Individual memberships for 6–10 employees (Annual Dues $800) • Individual memberships for 11 or more employees (Annual Dues $1200) Page 1 of 2 A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e T u r f g r a s s C o u n c i l o f North Carolina 7

TCNC Membership Application Primary Member Information: First Name_ ______________________________________________ Last Name_ ____________________________________ Title______________________________________________________ Company_ _____________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________________________________________________ City______________________________________________________ State_ _______ Zip______________________________ E-Mail____________________________________________________ Phone_ ________________________________________ How did you learn about TCNC?_____________________________________________________________________________ What type of turfgrass business are you in?

Lawn Care Facilities Management Landscaping Sports Turf Management

Sod Production Golf Course Management Industry Partner/Supplier Other ________________________________

Select Your Membership Type: Regular Member ($125) Student Member ($25) Educator Member ($0)

Deluxe Member 1–5 Employees ($425) Deluxe Member 6–10 Employees ($800) Deluxe Member 11+ Employees ($1200)

Upgraded Member Directory Listing ($25): Include my company logo and website link* in the TCNC Member Directory. *Please send your logo and web address to info@ncturfgrass.org.

Deluxe Members: Provide up to the maximum allowed additional employees with email addresses here.

Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Name____________________________________________________ E-Mail_ ________________________________________ Total $____________________

Check Number__________________ (payable to TCNC) Credit Card:

AMEX

Visa

MC

Discover

Billing Zip Code____________________

Credit Card #____________________________________________________________ Exp. Date______________________ Sec Code____________ Name on Card___________________________________________________________ Signature______________________________________________ Email to info@ncturfgrass.org, or fax to (919) 459-2075 or mail to TCNC, 110 Horizon Dr. Ste 210, Raleigh, NC 27615 Contributions to TCNC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes; however, dues payments may be deductible by members as an ordinary and necessary business expense. TCNC estimates that the nondeductible portion of your dues – the portion allocable to lobbying – is 10%.

8

North Carolina Turfg r a s s

n

w w w . n c t u r f g r a s s . o rg

n

September/October 2018

Page 2 of 2

New TCNC Members Nikalus Pressler Blue Ridge Early College Cashiers, NC

Alayne McKnight Cary, NC

Charlotte Bissette Zackly Rite Farms Elm City, NC

Jason Bissette Zackly Rite Farms Elm City, NC

Zack Bissette Zackly Rite Farms Elm City, NC

Calendar of Events

Southern Specialty Equipment, Inc. New, Used & Refurbished • Ease of Operation • Low Operating Costs • Single Axle Truck Use Solid & Dependable Rotary Finishing Mowers

October 17–19

GIE+Expo — Green Industry Equipment Expo and School of Grounds Management

Wide Range of Solutions

Jim Brewster Office Phone:

(877) 366-5399 Mobile Phone:

(352) 284-8029 jim@ssequip.net www.ssequip.net

Kentucky Expo Center Louisville, KY

October 19–22

ASLA – Annual Meeting & Expo (American Society of Landscape Architects) Philadelphia, PA

November 12–14

Carolinas GCSA Annual Conference & Show

Myrtle Beach Convention Ctr. Myrtle Beach, SC

January 22–25, 2019 STMA Conference and Exhibition Phoenix, AZ

February 2–7, 2019 Golf Industry Show

San Diego Convention Center San Diego, CA

February 18–21, 2019

TPI International Education Conference & Field Day (Turfgrass Producers Intl.)

The Westin Charlotte Charlotte, NC

A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e T u r f g r a s s C o u n c i l o f North Carolina 9

TCNC Career Hub

10

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

www.ncturfgrass.org

n

September/October 2018

A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e T u r f g r a s s C o u n c i l o f N orth Carolina 11

TCNC Deluxe Members Companies wishing to support TCNC with multiple members can join as Deluxe Members.

New for the 2018–2019 membership year, Deluxe Memberships can be purchased in one of three tiers: 1–5 employees; 6–10 employees; or 11+ employees.

If you'd like to learn more about the Deluxe Membership, please contact the TCNC office at (919) 459-2070 or info@ncturfgrass.org.

Thank You to Our Deluxe Member Organizations

Givens Estates

American Turf Grass Corporation Barefoot & Associates, Inc.

Green Resource JRM, Inc.

BASF Corporation

Keith Hills Country Club

Buy Sod, Inc

Kinston Country Club

Carolina Farm Credit Carolina Green Corp.

Leap Frog Landcare, Inc.

City of Brevard

McConnell Golf LLC

City of Raleigh Parks & Recreation

Nature's Select Premium Turf Services

City of Shelby

NC State University Athletics

Country Boy Landscaping Inc

NCSU Landscape Construction Services

Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community Diamond Creek Golf Club Duke University

North Carolina A&T State University

12

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

SiteOne Landscape Supply Smith Turf & Irrigation Sod Solutions, Inc. Southern Ag Southern Seeds Inc The Biltmore Company The Club at Longview Town of Cary Public Works Town of Huntersville Parks & Recreation Tri Est Ag Group Inc. Triangle Chemical Company

Pennington Seed — ProTurf Division

Turf Mountain Sod Inc

Quality Turf

UNC Chapel Hill

Revels Turf & Tractor

Vereens Turf Products

Fairway Green Fayetteville Technical Community College

SAS Institute Landscaping Dept.

www.ncturfgrass.org

n

September/October 2018

Cover Story

Transgenic Approaches for

Improved

Brown Patch Resistance

By B. Zhou, H. Luo, Clemson University, A. Bailey, Venganza Inc., C. L. Niblett, Venganza Inc., and R. Qu, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University

T

all fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is an important turfgrass widely used in North Carolina and other transition zone states in the US for the lawn. Brown

patch caused by a basidiomycete fungus, Rhizoctonia solani, is the most severe and frequently occurring disease for tall fescue plants. The most favorable season for this pathogen is late spring and early summer, when it is warm and humid. The plants infected with this fungus have irregular shapes of lesions on the leaves, which look like brown or tan color patches. R. solani is an important fungal pathogen as it can also infect many crops and has a worldwide distribution. Based on the ability of hyphae to fuse with one another (a phenomenon called anastomosis), R. solani can be divided into several subgroups, and the one causing brown patch on tall fescue belongs to subgroup AG1-IA. The objective of this research was to genetically engineer tall fescue to find ways to improve its resistance to brown patch disease. In this project, we tested two approaches. One is to introduce a

14

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

shrimp anti-microbial peptide (peptide is a small protein) gene, called Penaeidin 4-1 (or Pen4-1), into tall fescue plants.

Another approach is called HIGS (an abbreviation for “host induced gene silencing”), with which we harnessed the naturally occurring gene silencing mechanism and introduced R. solani gene fragments into tall fescue plants to suppress the fungal growth.

Since shrimp lacks the adaptive immune system, during evolution, they developed the antimicrobial peptides as part of their immune system for their defense. Penaeidins are proteins originally isolated from the haemocytes of penaeid shrimp, which has been proved to have antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of microbial targets. Pen4-1 has inhibitory activity against several Grampositive bacteria species and Gram-negative bacteria at relatively high concentration, and also against multiple plant pathogenic fungal species. Recently, Dr. Hong Luo’s group at Clemson University transferred Pen4-1 gene into creeping bentgrass and gained resistance to dollar spot (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa) and brown

www.ncturfgrass.org

n

September/October 2018

patch (subgroup AG-2-2 (IIIB)).

Through genetic transformation, an NCSU Ph.D. student, Binbin Zhou, introduced the Pen4-1 gene into tall fescue plants (cv. Coronado). Transgenic tall fescue plants were recovered from Agrobacterium-mediated transformation procedure and plant tissue culture steps.

Transgene expression was confirmed in five transgenic tall fescue plants, and inoculated with R. solani subgroup AG1-IA. In brief, four fully-extended leaves from a transgenic event were collected and placed on two layers of wet cheesecloth in a clear, tightly-sealed polystyrene box with high humidity. A small piece (2 x 2 mm) of agar containing fresh AG1-IA mycelium was sliced from the culture medium and placed onto the center of a detached leaf. Four days later, the transgenic plants were investigated. The inoculation experiments were replicated at least three times. Among the five transgenic plants, four of them showed significantly improved resistance to brown patch (Figures 1, 2). In the experiments, the lesion size of the control plant was 70%, whereas the lesion size of the most

CK

5

7

8-1

9-1

Figure 1

11

(ABOVE)

Representative results of Pen4-1 plants inoculation tests Shown are detached leaves of tall fescue plants four days after inoculation with Rhizoctonia solani.

Figure 2

(left)

Statistical analysis of R. solani resistance of Pen4-1 plants Y-axis stands for the lesion area percentage 4 days after R. solani inoculation; X-axis represents the transgenic plants. * Indicates significant improvement in resistance (p<0.05) while ** and *** label plants with highly improved resistance (p<0.01 and p<0.001).

A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e T u r f g r a s s C o u n c i l o f N orth Carolina 15

Cover Story | continued

Ck

Figure 3

NR1

NR3

NR4

NR11

NR12

NR14

NR16

(ABOVE)

R plants inoculation results with R. solani Detached leaves of transgenic tall fescue plants were inoculated with Rhizoctonia solani. Photos were taken four days after inoculation.

Figure 4

(Right)

Compared to the wild type plant lesion percentage, four NR plants showed lower disease severity, three of them had highly significant resistance (**, p < 0.01) and one showed slightly improved resistance (#, p<0.1).

resistant plant, 8-1, was only ~16%, nearly 5 fold smaller than the control. The lesion sizes of all the other resistant plants (5, 7, 9-1) were below 40% (Figure 2).

In HIGS approach, we first performed an in vitro assay to test which genes are

16

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

“essential” to the growth of R. solani. We then make so-called “RNA interference” (RNAi) gene constructs containing reverse sequences of gene fragments of those essential fungal genes. Such constructs would trigger gene silencing mechanisms

www.ncturfgrass.org

n

September/October 2018

in transgenic tall fescue plants and generate small interfering RNAs (called siRNA), which can enter into fungal cells and exert roles there to suppress fungal growth. Dr. Zhou made four various RNAi constructs, introduced them into

tall fescue plants and evaluate the transgenic plants with inoculation tests as described above. The following is an example of application of HIGS to tall fescue for brown patch resistance.

Using the yeast essential genes from the literature as references, we identified 20 R. solani genes as potential candidates for in vitro inhibitory assays. Based on the poor fungal growth results, we chose an RNA polymerase gene and an importin β-1 gene as the target essential genes. To obtain better results, fragments of these two genes were fused together and the fusion sequence was used to make an RNAi construct. Transgenic plants obtained from this construct are called NR plants. The siRNAs generated from this construct in the transgenic tall fescue plants were observed. Among the seven transgenic plants examined by inoculation tests, three (NR1, 12, 14) showed highly significant resistance to brown patch disease (p<0.01, Figure 3, 4). The lesion size of the control plant was 56.8% where the lesion sizes of these resistant plants were 10.7, 15.0, and 17.3%. In addition, NR3 showed slightly improved resistance (p< 0.1).

Our results from these two approaches demonstrate transgenics is a promising approach to the improvement of turfgrasses for disease resistance. G

Acknowledgments The project was partially supported by a grant from the NC Turfgrass Foundation.

References Zhou B., H. Luo and R. Qu (2016) Expression of the shrimp antimicrobial peptide penaeidin 4-1 confers resistance against brown patch disease in tall fescue. Plant Tiss Cell Org Cult 125(3): 599-603.

Zhou, B., A. Bailey, C.L. Niblett, and R. Qu (2016) Control of Rhizoctonia solani in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) by host induced gene silencing. Plant Cell Reports 35(4): 791-802.

A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e T u r f g r a s s C o u n c i l o f N orth Carolina 17

Green Light on Disease

T4 Lysozyme Transgenic Tall Fescue Plants are

Highly Resistant

to Gray Leaf Spot Disease

By S. Dong, H. D. Shew, L. Tredway, J. Lu, E. Sivamani, E.S. Miller, and R. Qu, North Carolina State University

Figure 1:

T4 lysozyme transgenic tall fescue plants are highly resistant to gray leaf spot disease (Magnaporthe grisea) Ck

G

Lys9A

Lys12B

(p<0.0001)

(p=0.0021)

ray leaf spot disease has become an increasingly severe disease on turfgrasses in the US. It is now a persistent problem for tall fescue in the Southeast, and for perennial ryegrass in many areas of the country. The disease is caused by

Magnaporthe grisea (T.T. Hebert) Yaegashi & Udagawa, an ascomycete fungus. The first symptoms of gray leaf spot are round or oval tan spots with a dark brown border. Under high humidity conditions, the color of the spots becomes gray due to profuse spore production by the fungus.

Expansion and coalescence of lesions may result in a foliar blight, where infected leaves are girdled and die back rapidly.

More extensive knowledge about M. grisea comes from studies mainly from rice, since the pathogen is also the causal agent of rice blast, the most common and severe disease of cultivated rice. The biology of the fungal pathogen, the molecular process of its infection, and the rice resistance genes to the pathogen have been well studied. M. grisea is considered

18

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

www.ncturfgrass.org

Transgenic plants

n

September/October 2018

THE MOST POWERFUL DEDICATED HANDHELD BLOWER FROM STIHL BGA 100 BATTERY-POWERED HANDHELD BLOWER

$

34995

One Battery Powers Multiple Tools I Visit STIHLbattery.com to learn more.

Other accessories may be required depending on product. Battery, charger and accessories sold separately.

12” bar†

HSA 66

219

$

95

MSA 200 c-bq

$

32995

HLA 85

$

39995

V isit STIHLdealers. c o m t o F i n d a D e a l e r N e a r Y o u . †The actual listed guide bar length may vary from the effective cutting length based on which powerhead it is installed on. All prices MAS-SRP at participating dealers while supplies last. © 2018 STIHL REVMA18TURF03-12-138926-6

Green Light on Disease | continued

Figure 2:

Statistical analysis of M. grisea inoculation test on the transgenic plants. Lesion size data of the six transgenic plants resistant to M. grisea in comparison with two non-transformed control plants (cv. Coronado).

— OVER 20 YEARS OF TRUSTED SERVICE —

From highest quality products, impeccable service and 75 years of combined turfgrass knowledge and experience, Vandemark Farms has the solution to any landscape situation. Located in Nash County, North Carolina, Vandemark Farms offers a wide assortment of sod varieties that will work with all landscape designs, including:

Tall Fescue

TifTuf Bermuda

Common Centipede

CALL VANDEMARK FOR YOUR NEXT SOD JOB!! 252-437-1501 9390 NC Hwy 33 West • Whitakers, NC 27891

Farm Fresh Locally Grown Sod • Quality Products • GO GREEN BUY LOCAL

20

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

www.ncturfgrass.org

n

September/October 2018

The project was partially supported by a grant from the NC Turfgrass Foundation.

Reference Dong, S., H. D. Shew, L. P. Tredway, J. Lu, E. Sivamani, E. S. Miller, and R. Qu (2008) Expression of the bacteriophage T4 lysozyme gene in tall fescue confers resistance to gray leaf spot and brown patch diseases.

Transgenic Res. 17: 47-57

www.cgcfields.com

Digital Marketplace

Acknowledgments

Andy Rushing arushing@cgcfields.com Phone: (704) 634-9799 Toll Free â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Office: (866) 753-1707

Download your favorite QR reader to your phone, and scan the code to learn more about this company.

a model pathogen for the molecular study of the fungal diseases of plants, and its genome was recently sequenced.

Advances in genomic study of M. grisea would provide a powerful tool for further elucidating the interactions between the fungal pathogen and its host plants.

Dr. Shujie Dong, then a graduate student, intended to use genetic engineering to introduce potentially fungal disease resistant genes into tall fescue. Among the four genes she tested is a bacteriophage T4 lysozyme gene. Lysozyme is a gene from T4 bacteriophage, which could lyse the bacterial cell wall to release mature phages. It also has anti-fungal activities.

A conidia suspension of a mixture of two M. grisea isolates from tall fescue was sprayed onto the plants, and plants were evaluated 10 to 14 days later. A total of 14 transgenic plants were obtained, and seven of them showed good resistance to gray leaf spot disease (Figs. 1, 2), as evidenced by greatly reduced lesion size and less disease incidence compared to the non-transformed control plants. The lesion sizes on these plants were reduced by 74 to 90 percent. Statistical analysis indicated that the lesion size reduction in all the resistant transgenic plants was highly significant (P<0.01), suggesting that the invasion of tall fescue tissues by M. grisea was substantially suppressed in these transgenic plants. The disease incidence reduction was also highly significant (P<0.01) in four transgenic plants (Lys8a, 9a, 13a, and 14a), indicating the infection process was inhibited as well in these plants. The results indicate that T4 lysozyme transgene confers remarkable resistance against the gray leaf spot disease in tall fescue. In addition, some of the transgenic plants also showed improved resistance to brown patch disease. G

A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e T u r f g r a s s C o u n c i l o f N orth Carolina 21

Index of Advertisers

NC State Turf Team

Barenbrug USA.......................................5 www.barusa.com Buy Sod, Inc................ Inside Back Cover www.buysod.com Carolina Green Corp.............................21 www.cgcfields.com Carolina Turf Farms, Inc.......................17 www.carolinaturffarms.com Divots, Inc.............................................21 www.divotssand.com Golf Agronomics Sand & Hauling..........9 www.golfag.com Green Resource..................... Back Cover www.green-resource.com Kesmac..................................................13 www.kesmac.com Mid-Atlantic Stihl................................19 www.stihldealers.com Morgan Sand Company........................21 NC Sod Producers Assn.......................11 www.ncsod.org Progressive Turf Equipment Inc...........11 www.progressiveturfequip.com Smith Seed Services................................9 www.smithseed.com Southern Seeds, Inc................................6 www.southernseedsinc.com Southern Specialty Equipment...............9 www.ssequip.net Super-Sod................................................3 www.supersod.com The Turfgrass Group... Inside Front Cover www.theturfgrassgroup.com Turf Mountain Sod, Inc...........................9 www.turfmountain.com

Crop and Soil Sciences Dr. Dan Bowman Professor, Crop Science (919) 515-2805 dan_bowman@ncsu.edu Dr. Rich Cooper Professor, Crop Science (919) 515-7600 rich_cooper@ncsu.edu Emily Erickson Crop Science Lecturer (919) 513-2034 emily_erickson@ncsu.edu Dr. Travis Gannon Assistant Professor (919) 515-2647 (Office) travis_gannon@ncsu.edu Matt Martin Extension Associate â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Turfgrass, NCSU Crop Science Dept (910) 675-2314 (Office) matthew_martin@ncsu.edu

Dr. Susana Milla-Lewis Associate Professor, Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics (919) 515-3196 susana_milla-lewis@ ncsu.edu Dr. Grady Miller Professor (919) 515-5656 grady_miller@ncsu.edu Dr. Charles Peacock Professor and Extension Turfgrass Specialist (919) 515-7615 charles_peacock@ncsu.edu Dr. Ron Qu Professor, Crop Science (919) 515-7616 rongda_qu@ncsu.edu

Entomology and Plant Pathology Dr. Terri Billeisen Extension Associate (919) 515-7464 tlhoctor@ncsu.edu Dr. Rick Brandenburg Extension Specialist (Peanuts & Turf) & Department Extension Leader (919) 515-8876 rick_brandenburg@ncsu.edu Lee Butler Extension Coordinator (919) 513-3878 elbutler@ncsu.edu Dr. Jim Kerns Associate Professor and Extension Specialist (Turfgrass Pathology) (919) 515-2730 (Office) jpkerns@ncsu.edu

Vandemark Farms.................................20 www.vandemarkfarms.com

22

North Carolina Tur f g r a s s

n

www.ncturfgrass.org

n

September/October 2018

Dr. Robert Richardson Professor and Extension Specialist (919) 515-5653 rob_richardson@ncsu.edu Dr. Tom Rufty Professor (919) 515-3660 tom_rufty@ncsu.edu Dr. Wei Shi Professor, Crop Science (919) 515-2647 (Office) wei_shi@ncsu.edu Dr. Fred Yelverton Extension Specialist (Turfgrass / Forage Crop Weed Mgt) (919) 515-5639 fred_yelverton@ncsu.edu

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dr. Garry Grabow Extension Specialist and Professor (919) 513-7348 garry_grabow@ncsu.edu

Horticulture Science Dr. Danesha Seth Carley Director, SIPMC & NC IPM Coordinator (919) 513-8189 danesha_carley@ncsu.edu

Give water a break tiftuf bermudagrass is the new drought-tolerance superstar.

The newest edition in the “Tif” (Tifton) series of bermudagrasses to originate from the renowned University of Georgia turfgrass breeding program, TifTuf promises to be a true game-changer in stellar yet environmentally friendly performance. Providing unbeatable drought tolerance, it uses 38% less water than Tifway 419, and it is significantly more drought resistant than all other bermudagrasses.

In addition to its incredible drought tolerance, TifTuf provides excellent cold tolerance (equal to Latitude 36 at Kansas State University), fast spring green-up, excellent fall color retention and superior wear and traffic tolerance. In the 2015 NTEP trials, TifTuf was the highest-ranked cultivar in North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi, and across all 17 locations overall, it was the highestranked, commercially available cultivar.

TifTuf will not only pay for itself in water savings, but more importantly, it will create eco-gentle lawns for the future. An astounding breakthrough in sustainability, it will soon become the ultimate musthave grass for home and property owners who want to take a break from water use.

www.buysod.com | 866-428-9763 World Class Service On Demand

Buy Sod VarietieS: Golf Putting Greens: Bentgrass and Champion Dwarf bermudagrass

Bermudagrass: TifTuf, TifGrand, Celebration, Patriot, TifSport, Tifway and T10 St. Augustine: Raleigh • Zoysiagrass: Zeon and El Toro • Paspalum: SeaStar Centipedegrass: TifBlair and Common • Bluegrass: Tournament • Fescue/Bluegrass Mixtures