Mechanisms of Environmental Stress Tolerance in Turfgrass

Abstract

Turfgrasses constitute a vital part of the landscape ecological systems for sports fields, golf courses, home lawns and parks. However, turfgrass species are affected by numerous abiotic stresses include salinity, heat, cold, drought, waterlogging and heavy metals and biotic stresses such as diseases and pests. Harsh environmental conditions may result in growth inhibition, damage in cell structure and metabolic dysfunction. Hence, to survive the capricious environment, turfgrass species have evolved various adaptive strategies. For example, they can expel phytotoxic matters; increase activities of stress response related enzymes and regulate expression of the genes. Simultaneously, some phytohormones and signal molecules can be exploited to improve the stress tolerance in turfgrass. Generally, the mechanisms of the adaptive strategies are integrated but not necessarily the same. Recently, metabolomic, proteomic and transcriptomic analyses have revealed plenty of stress response related metabolites, proteins and genes in turfgrass. Therefore, the regulation mechanism of turfgrass’s response to abiotic and biotic stresses was further understood. However, the specific or broad-spectrum related genes that may improve stress tolerance remain to be further identified. Understanding stress response in turfgrass species will contribute to improve stress tolerance of turfgrass.

Plant Growth and Morphophysiological Modifications in Perennial Ryegrass under Environmental Stress

“…Like other turfgrasses, salt stress caused morphology, physiology, molecular changes in growth and development of perennial ryegrass, such as TQ LFW, LED, and RWC of perennial ryegrass decreasing after exposure to salinity [89,90]. The alterations of morphological characteristics of turfgrass under salt stress are derived from the changes of physiological traits such as cell membrane stability [14]. It was reported that MDA content and EL enhanced by NaCl concentration in perennial ryegrass [54].…”

“…In fields, the growth and development process of plants needs to counteract various environmental stresses such as salinity, drought, cold, heat, and heavy metal [11][12][13]. Harsh environmental conditions may result in growth inhibition, cell structure damage, and metabolic dysfunction [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Moreover, stresses will further be intensified for the potential impact of climate change in future.…”

“…Thus, maintaining proper growth of turfgrass with minimal inputs under abiotic stress conditions is a great challenge for turfgrass industry. This challenge could be addressed through improving the stress tolerance of turfgrass [14,21]. Understanding morphological and physiological mechanisms of turfgrass adaptation to various abiotic stresses is a key step for the development of stress-tolerant ability and cost-effective and efficient management practices [13].…”

“…Current studies on morphophysiological mechanism controlling turfgrass adaptations to various growth conditions have provided important information for production of abiotic stress-tolerant germplasms and the further understanding of regulation mechanism of turfgrass response to abiotic stresses [13,24,25]. However, the mechanisms of the adaptive responses are integrated but are not necessarily the same [14]; thus, studies on how perennial ryegrass adapts to stress conditions will become more important with the increasing pressure of utilizing both ecological and economical strategies in the turf management. Furthermore, insights into mechanisms of stress resistance in perennial ryegrass will aid in identifying important characteristics for selecting the criteria of improving stress tolerance and will ultimately lead to better selection of new cultivars adapted to adverse environments.…”

A Review on Kentucky Bluegrass Responses and Tolerance to Drought Stress

“…A wide range of diverse cultivars and accessions of Kentucky bluegrass have been characterized based on pedigree, common turf performance, and morphological characteristics and were grouped into different genotypes such as Common, Compact, Compact-America, Julia, Mid-Atlantic and Midnight types [3]. Although these germplasm possess prominent ornamental value, however, Kentucky bluegrass extremely limiting used by water scarcity in practice, especially in semiarid, arid regions as well as the areas with the increase demand on water for agricultural, residential and industrial use [4][5][6]. It has been a challenge to select water saving cultivars and reduce water input in turf management [7].…”