Penn State News

Alumni Updates

Congratulations to the recent graduates of the 2-Year Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program! The Class of 2019 recently celebrated their graduation with a ceremony at the Nittany Lion Inn.

Class of 2019

Class of 2019

Christine M. Arias

Aaron T. Cabanaw

Marcus A. Lounello

Alexander S. Panzenhagen

Unraveling the genetic basis for Poa annua’s extreme adaptability

By Chris Benson and David R. Huff, Dept of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University

The greens-type Poa annua breeding project at Penn State began in 1994, and through its focus on collection, selection, and evaluation, has developed superior cultivars of greens-type Poa annua. Production of elite cultivars is constrained by nonMendelian inheritance of the dwarfism phenotype in the absence of extensive management practices during seed production. A likely contributor to Poa’s extreme adaptability and phenotypic plasticity is its polyploid origins. It has been demonstrated that Poa undergoes tremendous chromosomal rearrangement upon whole genome duplication postpolyploidization (Koshy 1968; Mao and Huff 2012). Fitting with its chromosomal versatility and reluctance to produce valuable seed through traditional breeding, our preliminary experiments suggest that Poa annua can pass on memory of environmental conditions to its offspring via epigenetic mechanisms. Our current project is focused on developing novel breeding methods based on epigenetic memory and transgenerational inheritance that we believe is rampant in this unique system. Using our discoveries, we will screen genomic loci that are critical for greens-type stability and enhanced stress tolerance. Ultimately, we plan to release elite and stable varieties of Poa annua for commercial use on golf course putting greens that will aid golf course superintendents and architects in establishing and renovating greens of highquality, stress-tolerant, and cost-effective Poa annua.

Students Volunteer at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Students in the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program recently spent a week at Bay Hill in Orlando where they volunteered at this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. These types of valuable learning experiences couldn’t be made possible without the support of many people including Chris Flynn (golf course superintendent), Jeff Hiday (Rainbird), Bland Cooper (PGA Tour), Penn State Department of Plant Science, and Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. The students thank everyone for the experience.

Arnold Palmer Invitational

Professor Receives Excellence in Advising Award

Congratulations to Dr. Ben McGraw, Professor of Turfgrass Science, who recently received Penn State’s College of Agriculture Alumni Society 2019 Excellence in Advising Award! The award recognizes exceptional performance and innovation in advising.

Ben McGraw

Student Receives C. Reese Berdanier Endowed Award

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Evan Mascitti, this year’s recipient of the C. Reese Berdanier Endowed Award! The award recognizes one outstanding graduate student who is pursuing a degree in agronomy or soil science.

Evan Mascitti