Bermudagrass Drought Tolerance Associated with Dehydrin Protein Expression during Drought Stress

• Published in: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science Vol. 138; no. 4; pp. 277 - 282
• Main Authors: Su, Kemin, Moss, Justin Q., Zhang, Guolong, Martin, Dennis L., Wu, Yanqi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.07.2013
• ISSN: 0003-1062; 2327-9788
• DOI: 10.21273/JASHS.138.4.277

Drought stress is a major limiting factor for warm-season turfgrass growth during the summer in the U.S. transition zone. Genotypic variation in drought resistance exists among bermudagrasses ( Cynodon sp.), but the mechanisms of drought resistance are poorly understood. Our objectives were to investigate physiological changes in three bermudagrass cultivars under a well-watered condition and drought stress. to determine expression differences in soluble protein and dehydrin of the three cultivars under well-watered and drought stress conditions, and to identify the association between dehydrin proteins and drought tolerance. Grasses included a high drought-resistant cultivar, Celebration, a low drought-resistant cultivar, Premier, and a newly released cultivar, Latitude 36. In both well-watered and drought treatments, ‘Latitude 36’ had the highest visual quality and lower or medium electrolyte leakage among three cultivars. In the drought treatment, 16- and 23-kDa dehydrin proteins were observed in ‘Latitude 36’ but not in ‘Celebration’ or ‘Premier’. Our results indicate that the 16- and 23-kDa dehydrin expressions could be associated with drought tolerance and contribute to drought tolerance in bermudagrass.