Penn State News: Research Updates
Fungal Pathogen Increases Potential Seed Yield in Turfgrasses
Improvement of Baseball Infield Mixes
By Matthew Sheltra and David R. Huff, Center for Turfgrass Science, Plant Science Dept. Penn State
ntro: Much of a baseball game is played on the infield skin. Players expect the bare soil to provide firm footing and consistent ball bounces. An ideal infield soil retains a firm yet forgiving consistency across a wide range of moisture levels. This trait allows the game to continue during rain and prevents the field from getting too hard as it dries out. It also gives the field manager a wider target to hit when hand-watering. Players’ cleats can easily penetrate the soil, but the cleats do not remove chunks and leave only small indentations. This is known as the “cleat-in, cleat-out” effect (Fig. 1) Objectives: Our research goal is to measure the “cleat-in, cleat-out” phenomenon with a novel lab device (Figure 2). The intent is to develop mixes with fewer “chunk-outs” and extend the range of water content where the mix holds together without becoming too soft. In addition, the project will determine which clay minerals are best suited for this use and allow the properties of a sand-clay blend to be predicted from lab testing. This project is being funded jointly through grants from the Pennsylvania Turf Council, the Keystone Athletic Field Manager’s Organization, and a competitive grant from SAFE, the Foundation for Safer Athletic Fields www.safefields.org
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nteractions between turfgrass hosts and fungal organisms can be problematic (like dollar spot disease) or advantageous, such as the symbiotic relationship between endophytic Neotyphodium and several genera of turfgrasses. In the Huff lab at Penn State, a unique pathogenhost system is being studied which does not benefit the plant but may ultimately benefit turfgrass seed production. When dioecious buffalograss is infected with the endophyte Salmacisia buchloëana, a series of developmental changes take place. S. buchloëana induces opposite sex organs in both male and female plants. The fungus also leads to an alteration of meristem determinacy, resulting in a greater number of flowers compared to uninfected plants, which in turn increases ovary production ten-fold (Chandra, 2007). For example, a non-infected that produces 10 flowers will produce 100 flowers when infected. Currently, our research aims to unravel the mechanisms through which S. buchloëana alters its host via genetic, metabolic, and morphological analysis of the system. Through this work, we hope to find how the fungus triggers increased ovary production so that we might replicate those conditions in the absence of the pathogen and in doing so, increase seed yield dramatically in buffalograss and in other turfgrass species.
FIGURE 1: Flowers of male buffalograss only produce orange male anthers (left); whereas, the same plant infected with the fungus Salmacisia buchloëana produces purple female pistils (right), an organ that male plants are genetically programmed not to produce.
18 Pennsylvania Turfgrass • Spring 2020
By Dr. Andy McNitt and Mr. Evan Mascitti
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FIGURE 1: Top – clean cleat-in, cleat-out; Bottom – chunk-outs
FIGURE 2: Chunking device under construction
