The Status of the Joint Bahiagrass Breeding Program between the University of Florida (U.S.A.) and the National University of the Northeast (Argentina)

MARCÓN, FLORENCIA; BLOUNT ANN; ACUÑA, CARLOS A.; URBANI, MARIO H.

Knoxville-Tennessee

Congreso; 71st Southern Pasture and Forage Crop Improvement Conference; 2017

Committee of the Southern Pasture and Forage Crop Improvement conference

Paspalum notatum Flüggé (bahiagrass) is a warm-season perennial grass used for forage and turf in the subtropics. The objective is describing the bahiagrass breeding program developed by the University of Florida, United States, and the National University of the Northeast, Argentina within an international cooperation agreement. The program can be divided in the evaluation and selection of apomictic ecotypes (natural genetic variation) and the creation and evaluation of apomictic hybrids. The main traits to improve are forage yield, frost tolerance, winter growth ability, nutritive value, seed production, seed retention and germination. The selection of ecotypes is based on the evaluation of individual apomictic genotypes that are conserved as seed or plants by both Universities. The creation of apomictic hybrids is carried out through crosses between sexual tetraploid genotypes (experimental origin) and apomictic tetraploid genotypes. The obtained hybrids are separated by its mode of reproduction. The highly apomictic hybrids and ecotypes that exhibit forage or turf potential are selected and evaluated in the field. The objective of both techniques is the generation of apomictic genotypes that can be introduced in subtropical beef-cattle production systems. An example of this is the release of the cultivar Boyero UNNE (Reg. No. CV-5, PI 676021) that was obtained by hybridization and was evaluated in different locations of Argentina and Florida. This cultivar had superior seasonal growth in comparison to the most popular tetraploid cultivars. Nowadays, we are developing a new hybrid improvement technique based on a sexual synthetic tetraploid population (SSTP) previously generated by researchers of Argentina. The development of this new synthetic sexual population will allow improving the tatraploid germplasm of P. notatum through recurrent selection based on combining ability. The objective of this technique is to exploit the heterosis of the obtained hybrids by crosses between sexual genotypes selected of the SSTP and apomictic genotypes by the accumulation of additive and non-additive genetic effects.